Fred's Blog

relfection

2005-03-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

First off I would like to say that I really enjoyed this class. I know everyone says that to their professor after a class I over but I truthfully did. Like I said before I previous writings, I did not really know what I was getting myself into when I signed up for this class. I was probably just taking the class because my roommate Chris said he was going to take it. What can I say, I am a sucker for peer pressure.
Over the course of the quarter we had about three presentations. Two presentations were for our research project and one was for our group project. Our first oral presentation was supposed to be on our topic for our research project. The only problem I had with that was that I could not decide on a topic. I spent most of the night writing out ideas until I realized I had been downloading music the entire time. I decided that that would be the topic of my hypertext. For my oral presentation I wanted to be different from everyone else so I decided not to use PowerPoint because sometimes get annoyed after watching one PowerPoint after the other. The second presentation I attempted to keep the casual tone I set with the first one. For this assignment we were to discuss how our work was progressing and some of the interesting facts we had picked up. The group presentation was interesting because my topic didn’t really go along with the others so I served as the mediator.
I found the hypertext assignment to be a little difficult because one, I didn’t really know how to use dream weaver, and two, I had never done anything like this before. I doubt any of my classmates have. Turning something you would usually write a ten page paper on into a website was interesting, difficult and fun all at the same time. My hypertext may not have been the best but during its development I would sometimes be impressed with myself because I figured out how to do some random new technique. When I finally figured out how to use layers, it was the happiest day of the quarter. Sometimes I found myself wanting to say something through the hypertext that would have been a lot easier to say in a typical paper, but sense the medium was different I had to change my approach.. One of the bonuses about writing in hypertext is that you can use so many different methods. If you want your work to look like a typical paper you could, if you wanted visual aids you can put those in, and if you want to link you project to a different page you could do that to. The problem was focusing all of those different possibilities into one coherent body of work.
I doubt I’ll ever have a class like this one in my time at Stanford. By class like this one I mean one where we use technology, have fun, and is not unbelievably boring. (hint: cs105) This class made me think about how I present the same martial to different audiences and in different mediums. I’m pretty sure this will help me in presentation and classes that I have in the future.

Last Blog

2005-02-22T23:02:00.000-08:00

Before I started all of this blogging I thought that it was useless. I thought it was something that only nerds (including my roommate lol) did when they were bored. Now I can actually see why people do it. It’s kind of cool to have an online journal or diary or whatever the hell you want to call it. With all that said, I still not the blogging type and this will most likely be the last blog I’ll ever do. Unless we are assigned more and then I’ll gladly jump at the chance. (you can’t see me but I’m smiling in a very kiss ass way)

Because of this class my definition of a blog has changed. I think a blog is whatever the writer wants it to be. I started off thinking it was an online diary, but blogs are being used in so many different ways that giving them all the same definition would be silly. Bogs are being used by companies to describe their merchandise, blogs are being used to discuss political topics; blogs are just all over the board.

I really wouldn’t know where to place blogs in regard to academia. This is the only class I can see using blogs in a educational manner. Maybe any other class that is examining digital culture or personalities on the web will find blogs helpful..

A collaborative blog would be a great idea. It would be kind of hard to put all of those ideas into one blog but I think it would be a fun exercise. In fact we should do that in class. And if we do do it, ill tell people it’s because I suggested it and I’ll have my five seconds of fame. Five seconds is good enough for me.

Presentation Review

2005-02-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Positives
Video – I thought that when people added video clips that added to the information given or just gave a visual example of what they were talking about, was a huge help to their overall presentation.
Pictures – The same thing for videos go for pictures. I don’t like it when there are pictures that of no importance. Our class didn’t have that problem though. We did a good job of using pictures that were of great importance.

Negatives
To much writing on PowerPoint – I found it interesting that after reading all theses articles on the negatives of PowerPoint, some people still did some of those things that were deemed bad. Too much writing is one of those. Being able to read off you PowerPoint for your whole presentation is not a great strategy.

AIM Blog

2005-02-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

I just got through reading an article from the Stanford Daily by Charles Feng on AIM addiction. It was a weird feeling having to read through his comments and then think to myself whether or not I qualify. I do use AIM but I am far from addicted. I know what your thinking, denial isn’t just a river in Egypt, but believe me I’ve seen and continue on a daily basis to see AIM addiction at its most potent level. My roommate who is probably is going to see this blog is my daily reminder of what AIM can do to you. I feel that I’m around the average. I don’t really know what that means, but let me just say that I most likely use AIM just as much as any other college student. I was laughing when Charles mentioned creating a new screen name that nobody knows about so you can check and see if someone is online or not without them knowing if your on. I’ve never created a new screen name for that specific purpose, but I found myself doing that one day after I created my new screen name over the summer. I feel that in today’s world a large number of people love the thought that if they want to, they can talk to whomever they want to whenever they want to. AIM is a perfect example of that. Why do we put up away messages and go idle instead of just like logging off. Why during the course of writing a paper must we sneak a peek at our buddy list hoping to notice a buddy we want to talk to has logged on? Don’t look t me for the answer, I’m just as confused as anyone else.

Electronic Reading

2005-01-31T01:05:00.000-08:00

This blog is written on “Electronic Reading” from Hypertext now. The article was actually kind of interesting. It discusses online reading and how eventually everything will be read on screens. I agree with the article in that eventually a majority of the things we read will be off a screen. I don’t feel that books will become extinct, but I think that with advancement in technology books will eventually start to lose their use. Of course people will still use them out of tradition, but I one day, like the article says, a PDA or something small and portable will take their place. Other than reading for school, a great amount of the reading I do is on a screen. That might seem kind of sad but I don’t read to many books. I do read plenty of news articles, but I don’t always find time to go get a newspaper. I do however find a good amount of time to search the web for articles I am interested in. I don’t always know whether or not something interesting is going to be in the paper, I know for certain that I can find an article on something I am interested in online. The article also mentions that reading off a screen is easier than traveling somewhere and buying a book. I really don’t have a problem with having to go anywhere to buy a book I truly want to read, but it’s obvious that downloading a book is much quicker.

Power Point Blog

2005-01-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

This is the first article that I have ever read that speaks out against power point. I always thought that everyone loved power point, but I guess that is not the case. I can see where the people who dislike power point are coming from with some of their arguments but I can not honestly say that I feel the same way. The only time I feel that power point is not a good thing is when it is used incorrectly. Thea rticle mention power point drawing attention away from a speaker. I feel that power point if anything can draw more of an audience’s attention to the speaker. Instead of showing a picture that an audience will just stare at, ignoring the speaker completely, a good picture will grab an audience’s attention making them listen more attentively. Making them want to learn more about what they are looking at. The articles mentioned charts not really giving any vital I feel that charts in a power point presentation are very helpful information; they are just there for affect. I feel that charts in a power point presentation are very helpful. It is one thing to hear something but it is a totally different thing to see it for yourself. Visual evidence is a very powerful tool. I do agree that sometimes charts and graphs may get over used in power point but when used right they are extremely helpful. This article hasn’t really changed my opinion of power point, I still think that it is a great help when it comes to giving presentations.

Research Topics

2005-01-10T01:14:00.000-08:00

I am still at the point where I am considering multiple topics for my research paper, but since this assignment only asks for two I’ll just have to throw out the two that I find most interesting. One of the topics I’ve been thinking about writing on is illegal downloading o music and movies. Everyone at Stanford does it and if they say they don’t they are in denial. Although the obvious negative that comes with downloading is that you’re basically stealing from the artist, it does also pressure the artist to make quality music. It is rare for people today to buy a CD because of one song they heard on the radio. Five years ago maybe, but now they will most likely download the song as soon they get home. To me it makes accomplishments in the music and film industry that much more meaningful. The other topic I was considering was the evolution of the cell phone from a device to keep us in contact with those we find important into a device that can pretty much do whatever we want it to. I just recently got to look at one of my friend’s new cell phones and he played an Usher music video for me. It was actually pretty clear too. We are able to be logged onto AOL Instant Messenger, which is something I really don’t understand. If you are out why on Earth would you want to be talking on AIM? The cell phone is more like a tiny computer than a phone. I think I’m currently leaning toward writing on illegal downloading but that will most likely change in the near future.

My Experience With Blogs

2005-01-06T23:50:00.000-08:00

Until now I had never heard of a blog before. I had to ask my roommate what a blog was and he described it as an online diary that other people could look at. He told me that a blog was another name for his xanga, which was something I had already made fun of him for having. I dont currently have the urge to go out and write a blog but I kind of understand why people would have them. Some of the blogs my roommate showed me were actually kind of interesting. I didnt know that you could put theme music on them which is a plus. Who knows, maybe I'll start keeping a blog after this quarter, not likely but still possible.