Technologic

The final project was at first, a difficult task, then it got easier, then harder again. The first obstacle was choosing a project; i soon decided to go with something I was passionate about, and cooking was definitely first on my list of passions. Then I had to figure out how to incorporate that into a project and I thought, “hmmm, what else am I good at?… talking!” And as you have found out in class, that this is true. I then figured out that a blog would be my best bet. So I decided to target the single audience that was left out of the Food Network scope when they were planning their shows: college students! Well, the next step was to collect the recipes and let me tell you, sorting through my mom’s organizational system, if you could call it that, to find some of our old family recipes was a ridiculously frustrating task.

Then I had to test some of my own recipes, this is where the fun and “easier” part that I mentioned above comes into play. I absolutely LOVE testing things out in the kitchen. My first experiment was the mulled drinks as I wanted to come up with my own version of the classics. My mom explained her ingredients, and that got me thinking. I then came up with the list of ingredients that I think would taste good and approximated amounts. Then as I built the concoction, I altered the recipe: a little less of that, more of that, etc.

Next I wanted to incorporate videos to better connect with my audience. This is where is gets hard again. I had to sort through learning the steps to creating a video and doing some minor editing, and then I had to figure out how and where I would publish the videos. I immediately thought that on my blog pages would be perfect, but I had a very hard time formatting the video, so instead, I posted the videos on YouTube and linked them to my blog. After about five hours of working with the videos and getting everything set, I posted everything on the internet. And due to my previous work as an editor for a newspaper and a yearbook, I was checking and re-checking my posts until the last second before class.

Next came the task of presenting the blog to the class and to the internet world. Well, most people made a slide show of their project, but creating a slide show really didn’t make sense to me for a blog. Almost everyone else was creating a project based on very new technology, or technology that the general public doesn’t know about, so a slide show would make sense for them. I decided instead to just get up and talk to the class about how I created the blog and my inspiration behind it, as that would suit my talents much more than a slide show. I made sure to find quotes to connect my work to our past readings, and then during Eric’s presentation, a specific quote hit me and I knew it would apply to my project as well, which was awesome to be able to link ours together. I was planning on showing one of my videos to the class, but the link had a kink and therefore was not cooperating, and in not wanting to waste class time to figure out the problem, I continued on ahead. I am happy to report that as soon as I arrived at my seat and started looking through the links, I found the problem and corrected it and the videos are now accessible through both YouTube and my blog.

This project challenged both my mind and creativity and inspired me to have a specific goal once I reach my dream position at the Food Network. I really learned a great deal about how to use technology to my advantage as now I have a blog, Twitter account, email address and YouTube channel all for this project which I will continue into my career. If you would like to visit my blog, the address is http://www.thecollegecookontwitter.blogspot.com and you can follow me on Twitter and YouTube at: thecollegecook1.

Finally, I have my final project idea! Are you ready for it? Three Words: college cook blog! As I am going to culinary school when I graduate with my BA, I am very passionate about food, cooking and the food industry. I have decided to do a blog, which will include recipes, information, a first time shelf-stocking list for a new apartment, etc. Basically a blog that entails everything a college student wants or needs to know about preparing food. The recipes will be easy to follow and easy to prepare with a time limit in mind (as well as a budget, seeing as it is for college students). I will also have a Twitter account for the project to further the distribution of knowledge and to add another element to the project. I will also create a Delicious account for my project which will include links to informational sites, chef biographies, other coking blogs etc. The final element, which will be the greatest test for my abilities, not as a media student, but as a chef, is a few instructional cooking videos, which I will post on YouTube and my blog to enhance the quality of the product. This project will explore and expand the reaches of my passion for the culinary arts in a down-to-earth, attainable manner. On project day, I plan on bringing in some of the recipes from the demo videos and the blog. I thought the class would appreciate that!

So… we are supposed to blog about our project ideas, but the only thing I accomplished during my time on Tuesday was write a list of things I like and formulate some ridiculous ideas. I have never had to create something like this before and I am so stuck. The lack of ideas is not the problem, the problem lies in the practicality of creating the products. Here is my list of what I like to do, some are paired with practical project possibilities:

Photography: HD Photos, new cameras, photo editing

Film: editing, special effects, new trends

Cooking: iPhone app w/ recipes

Fashion (though I have no claim to using my fashion sense during class times): iPhone app where you take a picture of different items of clothing, categorize them as shirt, pant, dress, shoes and hat and flick through them to create outfits… would be cool if they could be uploaded to SecondLife as well

Interior decorating (a little ambitious): iPhone app or computer program where you can take items of furniture and move them around a birds-eye-view room and then adjust your view to a normal standing position

Crafts for kids: iPhone App or web page

Well my last idea is ambitious too, I will admit, but it has been done on the G1 Phone, so why not bring it to other phones? If someone who owns a G1 connects to another phone, there is an app that allows each phone to see the other’s map location. This is particularly great for people who get lost easily. My sister has a friend who gets lost all the time, Leigh. Whenever Leigh is lost, she will text my sister where she needs to go and my sister will go to her current location and direct Leigh to her destination. Wouldn’t this be cool if the iPhone, Blackberrry and even GPS systems could do this?!

Ok… I’m stumped on ideas… help me out if you can!

Ok so I missed last Thursday’s class because of illness. And I finally got myself to the doctor this week, turns out my body is feebly attempting to fight off a pretty bad infection of a spider bite! I guess thats what happens when you go four- wheeler mudding at night!

Although I was not in class Thursday, I did catch up through Twitter a little bit and I have a few thoughts to add about the idea of a computer and a human being similar “thinkers” (or is it just: thinkers?). I agree that we all humanize computers in that we curse them and such, but honestly we humanize many things. I mean just this morning, my roommate said, “I love you, jacket!” and a girl down my hall said, “My Nalgene is my best friend, I couldn’t survive without it.”

On a different note, I saw that a few people tweeted on the rejection of human-like computer thinking. Well I think that now, this idea is still at the forefront of an ethical argument. If we think about the possibilities of computers, we know that as of right now, computers don’t formulate their own ideas, but rather assemble the ideas of others. We are working toward a point however when computers may have individual thoughts, which causes fear about what this will mean for humans. First, would this go against our religious ideas of creation and violate the ideas of God? Second, would humans lose the title of the superior race? And lastly, would the computers hold animosity towards humans and produce an iRobot- type war? I think that a lot of these fears are valid notions, but I can’t help feeling like I really want a Rosie (the Jetsons’ robot/ house keeper)!

So I have to say, although this presentation was difficult to put together, it was harder to present. Between technical difficulties and the ridiculous amount of rain, it was just not a fun day. I will admit that there was a bit of awkwardness when presenting like I did…. it was really weird to be standing up in front of a group of people without feeling the normal audience involvement like I normally do while presenting. I understand that a LOT of the energy was directed towards the tweeting and such, but it still makes the presenting space a little empty for me. Even as an audience member, I have to process the ideas talked about for the purpose of tweeting rather than understanding. I have a tendency to get better ideas after the class discussion begins rather than in the middle of a presenter talking… for me it feels like I’m disrespecting them to be typing away while they talk to me. Is this a valid point, or am I just stuck in the presentations of the past?

So you haven’t seen a blog from me for a while, funny, because I have been writing… Turns out my internet decided to hate me. Long story short I had to get some help and a new internet cable, but I’m totally back on board! So… I will attempt to write what my thoughts were from the past four blogs… Here we GOOOOO!

So when I was creating my presentation I was having some troubles figuring out how to put structure into such an unstructured paper. It was even more difficult to include all of the important parts of the essay without just reading through it, as there were so many. But I have to say, the presentation only took like six and a half hours to create and assemble in order and I think the flow was pretty smooth despite some technical difficulties.

So, last class we talked about comics and the timing and frames built into them. It really made me think about my obsession when I was younger over the Betty and Veronica and the Archie comic books. I love how they took the “good girl” who was humble and innocent, Betty, and paired her with the “bad girl” a rich, self centered Veronica. Often, Archie was caught in the middle; it is perfectly depicted here :

This classic image incorporates the main characters and their personality traits.

In class the idea of timing  and framing was a center for discussion. The Betty and Veronica Comics used a variety of expression and action symbols to better portray the timing of the scene. In the scene below,the top frame, much like the frame about the family on page 713, portrays more than just a single moment in time. As the reader moves from left to right across the strip, the timing of the actions is parallel to that of the reader’s pace. In the second frame, the position of the girls around Veronica and her expression explosion give the reader a sense of quickness, as if the girls from the fifties back-lashed at Veronica almost instantaneously. Then, in the next frame, the square behind the fifties girl represents her change in position towards Betty, as if to suggest she has whipped around to insult her as well, which the text backs accurately. Then the dashes above the heads of the girls in the last frame suggest instantaneous, hysterical laughter.

This series of comics fits perfectly into McCloud’s timing scheme explanation. I love how my childhood is related to class!

Alrighty, so most of my out of class time has been spent trying to figure out how on earth to work this whole Second Life thing… I honestly am finding it extremely difficult! Between the slow internet connection, my lack of avatar knowledge and no sense of direction in this Sims-like world, I am having a really hard time. I mean I’ve played the Sims games before, but with that, you have a set number of tasks and goals and here I find myself wandering around through weird little amusement parks with nothing to do. I think that its a cool experiment in the rhealm of interactivity and animation, but I can’t say that I really understand the point.

I will admit that I do have a slight bias against Second Life to begin with because of the ridiculous lengths people go to in order to be another person and hide their true identity… I guess I could get past that if I had a list of tasks or goals for my avatar, so that it would have a reason to exist, other than to add to the “millions of users online now.” I don’t know, could you help me find a cure for my avatar’s boredom?

P.S. Her name is Carolina Wrydan!

So last class we talked about the fabulous ideas of Alan Kay who, btw is a GENIUS, and I was astounded at the advancements that he talked about in his essay. It really made me think about the possibilities of the future! So like in class, when I talked about the movies, which in The Brave New World are called “Feelies,” I want to expand on that idea. The movies in the book are like traditional movies, but you can feel everything that happens to the characters on screen. Now although no one would want to watch a horror movie like that, I think there are supplemental things to do for certain on screen actions to include in the feelies. For example, if someone’s head gets chopped off by an ax, a burst of air and a squirt of water on the audience’s necks would create a greater effect. This idea of feelies could also be added to video games to give a greater sense of envelopment in the game.

We also discussed robots and prosthetic limbs that use nerve triggers and brain signals to move like a real limb would. I think that this technology is some of the most beneficial advancement to date. I would take this idea to the next level though, if the computer which controls the nerves of a prosthetic could be attached to the working nerves of someone with paralyzed legs, and another computer could stimulate the muscle movements, wouldn’t that person then be able to walk again? I don’t know for sure, but the thought is really exciting and hopefully we will advance to that stage soon.

So I finally got a chance to write… After the emergency room scare on Friday morning and sleeping through the weekend I finally feel healthy enough to get some work done. College has a way of destroying my health! Anyways, the field trip that we had on Thursday was by far one of the coolest things I’ve done in my education. There was such a connection formed between our group and those of the staff members. It was really cool to be treated like a member of a team rather than inferior because of my status as a student. I felt like my input was useful and productive; rather than having multiple levels of conversation, we were all  cooperative group

Separately from that, the ideas we were talking about in class last time about the American educational system and “self-teaching” were really useful to me recently. Today I went to a local YMCA to help at-risk kids with homework and to play until their parents get off work. I used some of the interrogatory teaching techniques we talked about and after a short time, the ideas started clicking for the kids. They flew through their homework! I was so excited that our discussion was put o use so quickly!