End of Semester - Web Writing Woes

Time is Almost Up! Already?

The semester's end has, one again, snuck up on me from behind... There is nothing more frustrating than frantically trying to finish everything necessary to pass a class before time is up! In this class that means creating a final presentation reviewing my PWP, all while editing the final piece of audio for my final PWP post.



 Click here to view PWP: Chi-Town Sounds

Personal Web Project Ups & Downs

What has been the biggest struggle for me with this whole project has been trying to find new and unique sounds around Chicago to record. When I walk down the street I hear so many different sounds, but when I go out to record a new piece of audio for a post I find it hard to capture sounds with the low-end voice recorder I have used throughout the semester.

Now that the semester is coming to the end I think it is most important to concentrate on the final post of my PWP which all of the posts have been leading up to. So, I think what I am going to do is focus on making a very interesting final post for Chi-Town Sounds and then on my final presentation as well... When I am cutting audio clips to construct the final piece of audio, I will have more than just six sounds (from the 6 posts) because each clip has several sounds in it other than the main one. I wish I was able to make more posts, but with time running out I have to bring it to an end; the final post.

The Grand Wiki

Chris Lydgate's "Deconstructing Wikipedia"



Wikipedia: A Blessing or a Curse?       

      

      After reading Lydgate's article, it is hard for me to decide if Wikipedia is a gift sent from above or a step towards a global epidemic of stupidity and ignorance!

      What is great about a digital-format encyclopedia that can be added to and edited by anybody (other than the fact that entries are CONSTANTLY being added and updated!) is that, as Lydgate says, "writing an encyclopedia is a thrilling, even addictive, intellectual enterprise." This is a good thing because, in this day and age, and I think we can all agree, people are not as concerned about their intellect as they should be!

 What is horrible about the site is that it, and Lydgate says it best, "is destined to be the first stop on the information highway for millions of people who need a quick primer on every subject from laetrile to Lady Gaga. What is perhaps disturbing is that it may also be the last stop." With the whole world using the Internet, and Wikipedia being the 6th most visited site on the web, people are taking fallacies as facts, affecting their beliefs and actions...

 Breadth, Depth, or Authority?



                                              So, what is the most crucial aspect of an encyclopedia? How extensive its entries are? How many volumes it consists of? Or, is it how many times it has been reviewed by editors to increase its validity as a source?



Larry Sanger, a Co-Founder of Wikipedia



READ LARRY SANGER'S "ON THE NEW POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE"

My Thoughts

Authority, in my opinion, should be the main concern of any encyclopedia that wants to be considered a reliable source. For me, an encyclopedia is a place to learn facts about topics. So, when number or length of entries becomes the main goal, facts slowly unravel into fiction. Lydgate writes in his "Deconstructing Wikipedia" article that Sanger's main concern in creating the online-encyclopedia was its authority, and I'm with Sanger. Don't get me wrong, I definitely believe Wikipedia can be useful! I just think that people should be cautious when using it as a source of fact.

Must-See Attractions When Visiting Nebraska



Top 5 "Must-Sees" in Nebraska

1. Fort Robinson State Park



• Fort Robinson played a role in many battles with Native Americans
• Where Chief Crazy Horse surrendered in 1877
• State Park is 22,000 acres
• Museum- Formerly post headquarters, now a museum that displays a reconstruction of the guardhouse where Crazy horse was attacked.              

2. Scotts Bluff National Monument



• Where more than 250,000 people traveling the Oregon Trail passed
• 800 feet above the North Platte River valley
• Museum includes special exhibits about the Oregon Trail as well as fascinating artifacts
• Visitors can drive to the  top of the bluff
• The vistas include views of Chimney Rock and the dangerous mountain trails beyond

3. Arbor Lodge State Historical Park & Museum



•  Located in Nebraska City
• Home of J. Sterling Morton (founded Arbor Day in 1872)
• Mansion on the site surrounded by a 65-acre arboretum with more than 250 species of trees and shrubs (most of which planted by Morton himself)

4. Carhenge

•  Located near the town of Alliance
• Unusual sculpture made out of automobiles
• Modeled after Stonehenge

5. Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park



• Named after William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody (buffalo hunter hired to provide meat for railroad contruction crews)
• Created a theater act to demonstrate his talents
• Developed a ranch in North Platte, Nebraska
• Rodeo event named the Wild West show
• Visitors can marvel at the treasures and memorabilia inside his barn and 19-room home

Class Review 1, Part 1

Hybrid VS.Traditional

Wow! Have we really been in this hybrid Web Writing class for five weeks already? I must say that time does fly in a class that only meets once a week. Although, when I think about it, the two other classes that I am in that only meet once a week feel like they have been going on for EVER! So, what is it that makes this class different from the others?

And The Winner Is....

As with everything, there are pros and cons to taking a hybrid class. Such labels (pros/cons, ups/downs) are defined by personal preference. I don't know about all of you, but time-management has always been a challenge for me. This hybrid, Writing for the World Wide Web, class demands that we manage our time in an orderly fashion. But, doesn't every class demand this from us? Yes! Although, since this class is majorily online, it forces you (well it forces ME atleast) to designate "school-time" within your "free-time". This is beneficial because it teaches us a life-skill that is without-a-doubt something necessary to be successful, but I sometimes see it as a con because it can be so damn frustrating dropping everything you're doing to go online and blog! 

If I am the official in this match- Hybrid class versus Traditional class- I declare a draw. I'm sure this isn't how many people would "call" it, but, for me, there is something about going to a classroom, sitting at a desk and taking notes, and learning face-to-face that helps me stay more organized and retain information better. However, I do feel that when we meet in class on Thursdays, the conversations amongst the class are much more personal and possess much more meaning than they would if this was a traditional-style class. This is one ascpect of a hybrid class that I especially like! So, in conclusion, I cannot say that one style of learning/teaching is "better" than the other. They are just different, and change from the "norm" is a good thing!

Profile Me

"New Member? Create Your Profile!"

I think that it is safe to say we have all seen something along these lines more than once in our lifetime. In making a personal profile for a website I, personally, always keep in mind how public the internet is. This is why I tend to be more vague when creating a profile, so that I am not allowing people who don't know me to learn as much about my personal life. I know that this is not the case for everybody and I'm sure even some of you put a lot of personal information about yourself in your web profiles. For me though, privacy is crucial. Another crucial thing in creating a profile is recognizing what I will be using that specific website for so that I can create my profile accordingly.

 For instance, with Facebook I knew that I would be using the website to keep in touch with friends as well as meeting friends of friends. Therefor, I knew I didn't want to put very much personal information in my profile since the people that I would want to be viewing it already know a good amount about me and the people that I don't know do not get to learn my life story in reading it. However, with this blog I knew I would be using it for class and to hopefully network with all of you, my fellow Columbia students. For this reason I geared my personal profile for this blog towards my major and what I hope to be my career. I think that the way I have created my profile does effect the way that I write on that website. With Facebook my writing is extremely short and has very little meaning for the reasons I stated above. In this blog, though, my writing tends to be more academic while still including some personality so that all of you are able to understand a little bit more about how I think. Overall, in creating a profile for any website, purpose and privacy are my main concerns.

Materiality

Reading and Writing: From Past to Present

Traditionally when we think or talk about reading and writing text, books and essays are what come to mind. "Walls of words" written or typed on paper are typically the way these forms of writing are presented to us. The topic of materiality refers to writing text in a way that facilitates the reader's comprehension of the subject matter. In books and essays using images is the most common way of accomplishing this.

 However, as we know, the times are changing and books are no longer the most popular medium of text.....

With the internet constantly growing, both in size and popularity, Web Writing has become one of the most popular mediums of text. With that being said, it is obvious that writers have been forced to change the way they write. Instead of writing paragraph after paragraph like in a book or essay, Web-Writers are faced with the challenge of keeping the attention of their webpage-skimming audience. To accomplish this, writers must consider this idea of materiality to make the subject matter jump of the page at the reader. I, personally, am still learning this skill, but by using things like images, links, and videos a piece of Web-Writing does a better job of grabbing readers' attention as well as getting your point across.

PWP Grows- Part 2

Time to Get the Ball Rolling!

                                                        

 Now that the frustrations of finding a recording device for my PWP are gone, I'm ready to get things going. I was afraid that I might have to come up with a new idea for my project since I wasn't able to find a recorder,but (thanks to Jeff's help) now I can finally get the ball rolling!



Where I Am Now

So where am I with my PWP? I am currently at the point where I'm ready to create the blog for my PWP. I think I will create a template to use for my weekly posts, but I plan on making that once the blog itself has been set-up. Other than that I am ready to pick up the recording device and start recording audio. I don't plan on changing much about my PWP since most of you agree that it's a good idea. Thanks for the help!

Interrogating Texts

What's The Point?
    Every text that we encounter has a purpose for it's existence, some having more than others. One goal of interrogating a text is to discover why it exists. The relevance of it's existence may lead to your opinion, but your opinion of the text is different from interrogating the text.

Who's It For?
    Another key part of interrogating a text is being aware of the audience the text was written for. Just because you may not like the writer's opinion in the text or the audience the writer is aiming towards, you cannot use your displeasure with the text as a form of interrogation.

    I feel there is more to interrogating text than I have mentioned, but I think that keeping these two questions in mind while reading a text will help better understand the text.Critically analyzing and addressing a text is much different than giving an opinion on a text. By understanding the purpose and the audience of the text, it is easier for one to do the former than the latter.

My PWP- How I Chose My Project

Image source: http://srika.com/img/chicago_hdr/chicago_hdr_west02_1280.jpg

Where I Started: After reading the assignment description for this semester-long project I knew I had to do something that would keep me interested, but more importantly interest others. I had the original idea, which I said in class last week, of using the barcodes that we were talking about and creating a sort of blog that would open up when scanned where people are asked to tell what they were doing at the time they saw and scanned the barcode. This initially sounded like a fun project but I started to feel like it wouldn't catch on very well since not everybody has the technology to scan barcodes and, mainly, because I feel that most people (not being aware of this new use of barcodes) would not think twice about a random barcode stuck on something in city full of graffitied walls, "lost" posters, "wanted" ads, and whatever else you find sprawled upon the canavas of Chicago. So I kept brainstorming...

Where I Am Now: The idea that I finally decided to go with was inspired by an activity that I did with my Audio Production 1 class. We were divided into pairs and were sent outside with portable recording devices and a list of ten random words ("red", "ghost", "sparkle", and "interrupt" were a few). We were instructed to record sound-clips around the city for each word. Each group was then asked to play one of their sound-clips, with every group playing a different one of the given word-topics. In the end every group played their recording for their word simulteneously, creating a blend of noises and sounds that mimicked the outdoor-noises of Chicago.The final product sounded similar to this. After doing this activity I realized that I could apply it to my PWP through a blog. My idea is to record different sounds from around the city each week, posting one audio clip each week and writing about what it is, where I was, and how it reminds me of Chicago. On the final week I plan to post an audio-clip with all of the tracks from the previous weeks layered together and playing at the same time. I will conclude by writing about how that final track of every recording playing at the same time sounds, to me, like Chicago.

Mike A. Week One- WWB Fall 2010

What up!? My name's Mike Adler, also known as Mike A., and I'm majoring in the Audio Arts and Acoustics field here at Columbia College. When I think about my Web Writing experience I realize that it is very limited. My personal experiences with writing have all revolved around my academic life where, majorly, I would write essays and lab-write ups for my English and my science classes. Web Writing, however, is a completely different genre of writing altogether. The extent of my Web Writing experience is through the little amount of writing used on the social network that we have all heard of, Facebook. I am not a big Facebook person like many people of my generation are, but I do think it's a useful tool to stay in-touch with friends and family as well as to network with people and get your name out there (which can be good or bad as you could probably assume). The writing that I have done on Facebook, like with most people and any social networking site, is very different from writing for the World Wide Web and I can tell because, in making my first blog, it takes MUCH more thinking, rather than just throwing a few words together describing "what's on your mind". I can see that Web Writing is different from writing an essay for English class because it seems to be less formal, but also because, rather than stretching things out into several pages, the goal is to keep it short and enticing. Since I have very limited experience with writing for the Web I'm both nervous and excited. Nervous because of my lack of experience but excited to learn an important skill that will benefit me greatly in today's Internet-driven society. So let's have a good semester and help each other get better at writing for the Web! Search Mike Adler on Facebook and add me as a friend if you want to get to know me outside of our class blog(s)...