The End of the Blog

This is it, the last blog post for this class.  It has all went pretty quickly, but when it was happening was kinda slow.  Now to the real info that you are looking for... :)
In my journey into the land of Web 2.0, i'd say I was already a good way there.  I'd already uploaded videos, pictures, played games, made a website, used multiple web browsers for certain features each has.  Though of course I learned some cool things.  I really learned the power of Google Docs over this class and am using it a lot now.  It is a lot easier to go online and start working instead of bringing a flash drive everywhere, certainly a great moment.
I'd say i'm a pretty reasonable techno learner.  I'm always open to new technologies and always have things to say about them and how I use them; say twitter, delicious, etc for example.  What I have discovered about myself is that though I am open to use the new things, I can often be negative towards certain things (such as i was for blogging earlier on), but everything worked out ok.
In my future (maybe even my next class) i will certainly be more web oriented then I was before this class.  Google Docs alone is a large step forward into this world.  next it will be using Picasa, or another site to upload all of my pictures to.  Of course it would be easier with faster internet, I am perfectly fine with wasting time while things upload/ download.
I would like to do more things with music and videos.  I really like these things, even if I have gotten stressed at them before... I do enjoy them.  Of course making those things is kinda an art form and I have yet to find my niche in the creative world.  I really do not want to have to make a lot of account on different web sites.  I get enough email notifications about junk I don't really care about and then it is just another password to try to remember.  Though mostly this was not a problem, I just don't like having a lot of websites to attempt to manage.
I'll have Lisa in Digital Photography next semester so that will be cool.  I am sure there are plenty of fun photo opportunities in the winter, I just need to look.
I don't really think i have too much to rant about today... other than that I really really really don't want to have to finish my statistics project and English paper... I think I'll live with a bit of candy and heavy metal music (my way of relaxing :)
Maybe I'll see you all again in another class!
Bye everyone, it's been a fun class

Josh

Also....
I suppose class isn't really over till I post some more things, but still... that was an early bye.  Hope that is acceptable!

Re-re-re-re-remixing It

After watching Steven Colbert talk about Remix, a book about remixing artistic works, I have come to these conclusions.
Earlier in this semester I would say that remixing works into something else is wrong to do, but here is a different kind of example.  Remixing works can be fun, can get people fame and possibly even fortune.  I do not think that unless it is under proper licensing that works should be able to be "remixed" if money is being made because of it.  I think that works that are used without money making purposes are totally fine and are more fun and creative then making it a business.  For example all of the remixed videos of Steven Colbert are on Youtube, not making money.  I'm ok with that because there is no harm to the original and could actually increase popularity of the original.  Though I do suppose that even a derivative could be made to make the original more profitable.  In that case, I do suppose that it would make sense... but these things are probably impossible to regulate.  I don't think I have any good ideas for a system to put in place. *sigh*
I have no idea what to do.. kinda stuck in the middle between thinking it's ok and it isn't.  Stealing is bad after all, but then it is probably often helping the original work, but then I don't know...............
I would need more info to expand more fully on this topic.  I know I don't want to be a criminal for editing a work, I know i've done it!

Thanks for reading!

Josh

Generation F and Beyond!

While I was reading an article on Generation F from Opensource.com, I was interested by the way things worked online.  Everything seems to run off how one acts.  If someone acts like a jerk, they don't get as much respect as to someone who helps fellow web users.  Though this is somewhat expected, that is not always the way the world works offline, which is why the internet has such an interesting community.  Everything defines itself, how it runs, how it's treated, etc.  Most everything is by choice of interest.  There is no authority, but the ones that have been created by all the users.  And hackers that fight the authority are held in high regard.
So much of the web is volunteer and the reward would be simply enjoyment to do what they are doing.

I know that this could change my workplace by getting everyone together online.  All announcements, random chat, etc. would be easily attainable say if all were on Facebook.  Of course it changes lives by changing how people spend their time and of course how they communicate, tell jokes, and tell others about things.
I know it certainly draws me into it everyday, looking to see what is happening in the world.
For example, if I hadn't seen that my brother wasn't busy last night, I wouldn't have a ride home!!!

Josh

The Tale of the Long Tail

After reading an article on Wired about the Long Tail, I have learned a lot about sales of lesser popular goods.
I definitely know this applies to me, I am one of the people who doesn't buy from the big starting spike.  For example while people are buying hip-hop, I'll be buying the Blue Oyster Cult, Judas Priest and Rainbow.  While this may still apply to the popular at one point, or the not quite not really all that popular, It still fills in as many sales as anyone else buying something new and incredibly popular.  I buy a lot of my things from Amazon, and there is certainly a large selection of goods there, as the writer of the article states.  That is why I can so easily buy older music without havingto search too hard.  The only problem is deciding what I want at the time.
Of course it is easy to convince me to buy something If I can get a CD with shipping for under $10. I would prefer having the CD anyway, and distributors like iTunes usually.
And of course when I buy something I get the recommendations and sometimes buy those things.  So I get  things I like, and Amazon makes money, sounds fine to me!
If I buy as many classic songs as another person buys new songs, then I am just as much of a consumer as the next guy.  I might not be buying popular things, but I am still spending money and that is what matters to them.

Josh

About Podcasting

The whole Idea of podcasting is fairly simple.  All it requires is a microphone, device to record with and internet access.  To me, the whole idea of podcasting is new, as I have never, before today, listened to one.  From what I get of it though, it's like a radio show, just not live.  I like to think of playing a podcast in my car as i drive along, listening to the recently subscribed to content.  It's like radio shows like you want them and on demand!  A great combination!
As for me, making a podcast will be incredibly easy, right after I find out where to upload one.  Audio projects are fun!!!!  Just grab my mic, computer and I'm ready to go.
I have no idea what I would make a podcast about, but I suppose I have time to think about it!
Talk to you all later!

Josh

Vlog #2.. a bit late perhaps

I went on a short trip to the Gove Hill Retreat Center to watch them make cookies! YUM!

My first VLOG

My first VLOG is about how to clean my rifle.  The most fun part was "shooting it" ;).
Pretty much straight forward on how it was done.
I used Windows Movie Maker 2.6 the edit this.
I only had experience with Final Cut Express before, so it was disappointing having to use something else... especially since FCE is awesome.
Hope you enjoy.
Josh

Magic of a Good Presentation

After watching Hans Rosling's statistical experiment and presentation on TED, I certainly have found good examples and ideas to add into a presentation.
I had actually seen this video earlier this semester as it was used by my statistics teacher to show a really cool example of statistics.
The first thing I noticed Rosling doing was adding humor.  He joked with the audience that chimpanzees were smarter than his students, and that the professors were just as smart as them.  Adding humor keeps the audience attention, but it didn't distract from his presentation at all.

The most important thing that Rosling did was the visual representation of populations and statistics about them.  Everything was moving, visually appealing, easy to understand, etc.  It didn't stop there though;  Rosling was enthusiastic and that added a great deal to his ideas by removing boredom and monotony and replaced it with excitement.  What he does here is so much more interesting that any normal presentation.  It is truly a good example of a job well done.

I don't know how I would, but I certainly can take away that adding an interesting visual aspect can certainly make the presentation more than a bore.  Another thing that would be good to add would be asking the audience questions, and using those questions to show a point, as I think he did during his performance also.

Josh

The Kindle 2 and Copyrights

I have recently read into and watched some videos on Amazon's Kindle 2.  The handy reading device has taken some flack from the writer's guild for it' text to speech function, saying that it goes against audio copyrights.  I would have to disagree with this agrument totally at this point in time.  The Kindle may be able to read a book to you, but it lacks any human emotion, a good amount of clarity and an interesting voice.
After Watching the ad for it, I came to the thought that It was cooler before I saw it in action.  The video shows an example of text to speech and I can say it would drive me nuts having to listen to a book in that manner.  Currently I would say it offers no real competition to those who like their audio books and I would suggest not getting it for just that feature.  And since it offers no real competition at this point, thie Writer's Guild can back off.  Of course some day voice technology may become so real that it outdoes audio books, then I would imagine ppeople could make their money selling their voices as options to use in the readings, as I have seen in some GPS units.
Though I can say It would be interesting to have a Kindle but, since I do not read a whole lot, I think for the time being I would rather have a real book.

Josh

Obama Hope and Street Art

After reading multiple items about Shepard Fairey and his work, the Obama Hope poster, I have come to this conclusion.  I believe that Shepard is nothing better than a plagiarizer, and what we see done with plagairism often has terrible consequences.  People get expelled from schools, fired from jobs, lose lots of money, but he got away free.  This article from the AP website tells us that the photographer dropped charges, most liely because he was just tired of it all.  He deserves more credit than he got from taking the picture, and Fairey deserves a just punishment.
I think that Creative Commons is a reasonable idea for some things, but if they didn't want to put it there, then it doesn't belong there.  If it had been put there, then Fairey still could have been in a lawsuit depending on the type of license put on it.  He escaped with no real harm and that is what's wrong.

And no I am not putting up an Obamanated picture cause they are pretty generic nowadays.

Another topic in general is street art.  I think there is a fine line between street art and graffiti and this needs to be determind.  To me graffiti is simply writing ones name, a gang name, or something that really isn't something people would find attractive.  Street art is more like something that people put time, effort, and skill into.  Sometimes it is the best way to show the world your work, as many cannot get into an art galary, or another similar thing.  Of course some people would just be plain offended by it either way so, I suppose it could be annoying.  If someone was drawing on my building  would be pretty annoyed.

Josh

Amazing Pictures of the Smallest Kind

Looking through galleries of pictures taken on iPhones, I can say I am very impressed.
First looking through some pictures on Wired I started being amazed not buy the size, but by the way the pictures were took.  They are absolutely brilliant and portray the author's work, all with an iPhone camera.  I could never imagine that such a small, wimpy camera could be so amazing.
Next I was looking at Tony Stewart's iPhone pictures and was amazed.  No matter how small, they hold so much.  So much amazement in a little package, I cannot fathom how it was done.  It could be the filters placed over certain pictures that add just a little bit of style that perfects it.
However it is, the iPhone certainly has a lot of potential for being so small!  I can't wait to see what the future of phone cameras bring.

Josh

Creative Commons Thoughts

I was reading "What is Creative Commons" on RSS Specifications, and I would like to share my thoughts.
I think that it is a great thing for people to be able to access free content from Creative Commons.  This makes it easy to create something of your own, but with the help of others doing things that maybe you couldn't afford.
It is nice that there are different kinda of licenses available for someone to use.  This is good because you can choose how you want your works to be copyrighted, which is quite nice.
Though I personally would never actually put anything on Creative Commons, if I made something, I would want to profit from it.  I would not really like to just put it there for many people to use, even if I would get credit.   Though I see how that would be helpful when say I needed a picture to design a website.  It is a lot easier to find a free use picture than get sued.

Josh

Week 3 5000 Days of the Internet Response

After watching "Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web" I have a few things to say.
First of all, Kevin tells us earlier on in the video about how the internet is so amazing, but many of us do not realize just how amazing it really is.  I can sat that I am one of those people.  Though it has came to mind somethimes how convinient certain aspects of the interbet are.  This could incluse buying things with ease, ease of sending messages, video conferencing, etc.
Though as Kevin got into the core of the topic, it reminded me a lot of Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  One machine having all of the world's information and power and that it would be smarter than all humans on the earth.
Another thing that made me think was the picture of the man with the cell phone strapped to his head.  This made me think of a video game world where everyone had very small things to communicate with each other.  What I mean by this is either headsets. or even audio and video devices built into people.
I find it incredible, but also scary to think of everything that is yet to come.
Of course we will see when it comes.

Josh

Afloat in the cloud

New email, new IM, new notification.
i see these things daily, it's part of my life.
This may be good or bad in some cases, but that is not the point now.
The point is that I am very involved with cloud computing.
I have a webmail, a Facebook account, instant Messenger, Skype, and more.
And I like video games, so I have Xbox Live, A Steam account, and other various accounts.
Along with that I have uploaded a couple Youtube videos, feel free to check this one out :D.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfe-kT5lfcI
I think that my cloud includes a lot of video game save files and information, email, and facebook stuff.
Those are the things i mainly use.
i play a LOT of video games.

As for my web 2.0 experience 5 years ago.  I can say i had a webmail, possibly instant messenger, btu that is about it.  Now I have soooooo much more.
In the future I am sure i will have faster internet, and be able to do a LOT more with the capabilities of cloud computing.  As for now I just have low speed broadband, it limits a lot.
What I would like to see in the future is more things becoming integrated so i do not need 50 different accounts to do everything i want to do.
Thanks for reading!
i look forward to your feedback.

Josh

Multimedia Apps and Tools Class Goals

My goals for this class are just to pass.  To me it is just another class closer to getting a degree, and not having to go to more school.
My anxieties are basically to start that I think blogging is a total waste of time because no one actually cares what I would have to write about, I am just doing it because it is for a class.  And if they did care  I would just tell them.  I do not even see why someone would even care that I was blogging, because I do not think it would be interesting, unless they wanted to see me write about despising blogging.
I have taken other online classes before so I have a good amount of experience with it.
NO i do not blog because I find them a waste of time.
And NO I do not read blogs, just Failblog which is too cool to be a blog.  Oh and my girlfriends blog, which I just read because it is my girlfriend's.