Reflections on Thoughts of Ideas and Stuff

It's 2:30 AM on a Monday morning, and I still don't really know how I feel about the events that transpired that fateful day almost 5 days ago. A life time ago, in all regards now. When things are so eventful, they stick with you more, you analyze it with more scrutiny, and begin to detach yourself from the event. You become an outside observer on your own life. An outside, coolly watching an event that took place so long ago. But it didn't it happened only a few days ago.

Suffice to say, things got a bit heated on that day. Even before class began, I could tell something was wrong. Well, mostly because Prof. Sloane said something was wrong, and I could feel the disappointment. And, I don't mean to say that accusingly, and I am in complete belief that Prof. Sloane was entirely more INTERESTED in the situation, than she was disappointed. But those feelings, of expecting one thing, and getting the entire opposite, sit with us whether we want them or not. And to Prof. Sloane's humongous credit, she dealt with it magnificently. But we will get to that later.

Well, the thing was, get didn't do so well on the wiki. Well, some people did, the Futurama group got special (and well deserved) mention for their wiki, which took a creative slant on the project, writing the wiki from an 'in-universe' perspective, an idea that does not lend itself to plagiarism easily. An idea that would've saved many of the other groups, mine included, some shame. But, we went with the straight encyclopedic style. I really wish we would've come up with the 'in-universe' one for ours before starting, as it would've fit well with the show, but it was far too late at this point. The seeds were sown, so to speak.

Actually, I take that back. I would actually say that the seeds were not sown here, but tended to. These seeds, planted long ago in our minds, as that 'don't worry, it will work out.' I cannot be the only one in the class who felt like they coasted through high-school on nothing but good graces. And I was even in honors classes! And still! I felt like, we were given bones, every opportunity they could be tossed our ways. We would write our papers, the night before, researched that very night, and turn them in to As and Bs. Most of that information would be taken without giving any sources. Because it was high-school, and they didn't care.

But then, you go to college, and then it is a different story. In college, oversight is everything. Knowledge is also everything. Integrity is also everything. It is very cramped in college. The rules and regulations come flying at you from every which way, and you duck and dive, but they hit you square in the face, and you end up taking early composition classes. Or, if you were like some honors kids, you didn't. Because you could test out of them. And many did. Missing out on such lectures about plagiarism as "don't steal ideas" and "cite if you do!" And very little, if nothing, about paraphrasing. So a lot of people, especially those who skip past Comp, remain ignorant, as the years go by. And we get by, because we were taught the basic things, don't steal, and if you do, cite! (because then it isn't stealing!) And, for the most part, this works.

Until it doesn't.

Enter our wonderful class! And I say that without any sarcasm. As trying as most of our times have been in this class, we can at least say it has been memorable, and, let's be honest, that is something unique in college life. And, like many of my fellow classmates, probably entered into a class with the word "Web" in the title expecting ease. As we have all grown up with the web, even people who don't use it often. So, as it is something familiar, it is something easy. If A, then B. Very rarely in college, do we go in, and get blindsided by a class that is now a C.

And that's what this class is. It is something no one could've been prepared for. It made us think. As it shouldn't come as much as a surprise, college courses, as many before it, don't actually require that much thinking. Sure, plenty of memorization, regurgitation and organization. Not much anaylization. But plenty of perspiration. So, it always comes as a shock, when a class actually challenges you. And challenging this class has been.

WELL, that's mostly a lie, from my standpoint. Don't get me wrong! The class still makes me think, and has from the start! But, I cannot say I was actually challenged until this project. Something I cannot say for a great deal of my compatriots. I use the internet every day, for far more time than I care to mention. Technology in general, for that matter. So I have eaten all of this up as candy. And once the wiki project appeared, I felt like that candy lead me to a candy store where I could eat my fill. It lead us all there. Unfortunately, not everyone in our class has sweet-tooths, so to speak. The wiki, was not their cup of tea, and I felt bad for them, but I found the topic interesting, and my group amiable and like-minded.

And we worked without a care. It was here, where something bad happened. I got complacent. Worse, I got sloppy. WORSE STILL, I didn't really try. I'll admit it, it's something I do a lot, when something doesn't feel like it's gonna be all that hard, I don't put as much effort in. Sad to say (truly) it works more often than not. I am a fan of the path of least resistance, in almost all cases of life. Here was no exception.

To say my heart began to race when something I "wrote" came up on the overhead would be an understatement. Me? Under scrutiny? In college? Well, it just never happened. And no, not because I was perfect, but just because I flew under the radar. I don't do anything spectacular (again I point you to the 'not trying' section) and I don't draw attention. At least not when I don't want to. And here I was, on the big board, being picked apart for my plagiarism, something I have never been accused of (not saying accused badly here, just the only word I can come up with, as said, Prof. Sloane dealt with this with the utmost class and poise), nor ever dreamt of doing. And yet, here it was, startling clear in front of me. And it was there, because it was easy. It happened, because I thought my understanding of paraphrasing, and re-purposing information (largely a skill I learned from the internet) was lacking. When I wrote it, I thought I changed enough around, and added enough from my own database like brain to be different enough. It was not the case.

And I was not alone in these claims, many others were brought up to the block, and every single one of them were guilty of doing the same, some more and less than each other, but all still failing to see, beforehand, what was wrong. I think I can safely say, the message that it was, is burning bright in all of our heads now.

I felt low, but then Peter gave praise to our page, and I felt a bit better. I also think at least, my sections on Anime Studios was alright. Maybe it wasn't.

So, what happened, was a trial. We were accused, evidence was brought forward, and we were judged by a jury of our peers. Luckily, that jury was us. Prof. Sloane, took this as a learning opportunity, and I don't think it could've worked out any better. Instead of giving us accusatory words and glances, she instead allowed us to turn the mirror onto ourselves, and look inside to see why this happened, and allowed us to learn. Reasons were given, good and bad, words and arguments were exchanged, good and bad. People stormed out, some consensus were made.

And above all, we learned.

With that said, stick a B on me. I'm done.

Informal Proposal

Here his my proposal:

My major question is thusly, what is the design that best brings people back to websites? I am going with Entertainment blogs as the type of website that I am going to be looking into. This will be interesting, as generally blogs are engendered to follow a certain setup: banner up top, major stories below that, and the roll of stories below that. So, I put forward, what makes this such a popular setup, and could something make it better?

My methodology would be interesting. Really, my methods would be to go through a series of blogs dedicated to entertainment (in the realms of video games, movies, comics and television) and see what makes them tick, and what makes them work, and break down what could make them better.

My discussion is interesting. I cannot really quantify it here and now, but as said, I would explore what would make these websites better, what needs improvement and what not, and discuss what it means in terms of real world application, and see what we could look at in our lives to make these sites work better.

In a nutshell, I am going to do what I normally do (read through countless blogs) and this time critique them! Should be fun.

Just a Reminder

I did do the Five Website Comparison, but I did it before the blog that came before it.

Here is a link to it if you didn't see it, but if you did, well, continue to have a nice weekend!

Chris Anderson - Designing Media

Chris Anderson has had a rare seat at the forefront of the redesigning of Media as we know it. Quite possibly, there was no better seat for this than being at the head of Wired Magazine during the hayday of the Internet boom in the late 90's and early 2000's.

Anderson has seen the way that media has changed, from a sort of "big boys" club, where only those "in the know" are allowed to do something in a certain field. He mentions that, before today, if you wanted to produce and broadcast something, you needed to be in the television industry. But today, anyone can get a cheap camera, cheap editing software, and upload anything and everything they create to YouTube. And this is seen in all aspects, where people write, sing, create, and just simply become apart of any medium they wish, with very little bar of entry to do so. Media used to be a way for those in power to communicate. Media has now become just another way for everyone to communicate.

Not only has the way people do this changed, but also the why. Beforehand, the predominant reason could've been stated as money. Media was big, fast moving, fun, and paid well. Everyone wanted in, and only a few could get in. But, as time went on, those in the spotlight seemed to be doing it for a different reason. Not so much for cash, but for the explicit reason of being in the spotlight. People all over the world would worship these people. And like before with the issue of money, people wanted in. They wanted to be seen for no other reason than to be seen.

People all over the internet now, offer their services for free, just to be apart of something bigger. Novelists write books, programmers design software, musicians make music, artists make art, and distribute them freely over the Net for anyone to see.

From Chris Anderson's eyes, the way media works is changing drastically. In some ways for the worse, but ultimately, for the better.

Five Websites of Awesome

First of we have Destructoid, a blog dedicated to gaming. Like most game blogs, it has a simple design. The stories get loaded in, and the new ones get placed on top, pushing the rest down. It is a design that is stories, simple, and works very well. I am also a fan of the general theme of the site.

On the other hand, we have Kotaku, another gaming blog that is under the Gawker brand of lifestyle blogs (other blogs include io9, a blog dedicated to sci-fi and fantasty, and Gizmodo, a blog dedicated to gadgets). The problem here is that, until a few weeks ago, Kotaku had the same blog style layout that Destructoid had, but then they decided to try out the new layout you see now, and it is quite horrid. Their are two many frames, some don't load all the way, and it's just generally confusing. I understand trying to innovate, but breaking something that worked so well just isn't a very good idea.

Next we have Reddit, which is currently the website to beat in term of Social News sites. A Social News site is basically any site that shares links to other websites, and has comments on those links built into Reddit itself, letting people have a discussion about said link, be it a picture, video, or link to a whole other website. It's simple, text based, and very easy to use.

Next, we have a message board website, called GameFAQs. This website is just about as old as dirt now. Founded way back in 1998, the overall design hasn't changed that much. The most major redesign came when the site was purchased wholesale by gaming news giant Gamespot, which now duplicates the GameFAQs message boards in it's own site, with it's own layout, while still allowing GameFAQs to keep it's own design on it's side. It's a bit of technical wizardry that worked for everyone.

Lastly, we have the web-comic Questionable Content (don't worry about the name, there really isn't any questionable content in there). This is another standard design that works well and doesn't really need much dressing up. For most web-comics, the central fixture is always going to be the comic, and thus the focus. Basically, all most web comic artists do is gussy up the back end, making it more functional. This site in general has one of my favorites, wherein if you are ever browsing the back catalog, whenever you click on the comic proper, it turns the page to the next strip. Extremely simple, but extremely functional.

I am a Reader

I am a reader who reads for fun.

I am a reader who reads to learn.

I am a reader who hates grounded stories.

I am a reader who hates when something ends.

I am a reader who has trouble visualizing characters.

I am a reader who can read anywhere.

I am a reader who reads the same things twice.

I am a reader who skims descriptions of landscapes.

I am a reader who reads for characters.

I am a reader who reads to live.


Based on these, I think it's hard to say exactly what type of reader I am. A lot of what I do seems to be from Behaviorist point of view. Growing up, it took me a little longer to get things, making me read things over and over again before I fully got them. Now, being an adult, I am able to understand things easily the first time, but I still read it twice.

But on that note, I have a hard time visualizing things with words, which would suggest Cognitive view on my reading.

Yet, I am also obsessed with characters, and viewing the various strife and troubles they go through, feeling connected to them through their actions. Is this a Community based mindset?

As said, from my stand point, I cannot honestly say that it is one way or the other definitively. For sure, I am an amalgamation of all four to different extents. But, if I have to choose one, I would say I was definitely influenced by Behaviorism the most out of them. I saw what others did around me, I was influenced by them, and emulated them. Or is that Social Constructivism? I still have so much to learn.

What is Reading?

You could write a book about what the true definition of reading is. You could then read about reading. It would hurt your brain. So, I have instead opted to write about what I feel reading is in a short blog post, as per the request of my Instructor.

All glory to the Madam Sloane!

That aside, I really would like to point out that defining Reading is no walk in the park. Well, that is to say, Reading is like a walk in a park, or rather, walking in a park is kind of like reading. Now, you may be wondering what I’m talking about, and I will say that I am in the same boat. But, what I mean, is that Reading is taking in information, processing it, and forming an idea about what that info means. The most popular form of reading, is, well, reading, mostly books, magazines, or anything with words, symbols that represent sounds that help us contextualize the world. If you break that down some, it becomes interpreting symbols that help us take in pertinent information.

One could say, walking in a park, one must take in the symbols of the park, such as signs stating to stay of the grass, or a big pile of dog poo. We take this info in, read it, and come to a conclusion about what to do.

And that’s what it is at the end of the day, for me at least: reading is the taking in of symbols from an outside source, typically symbols that transmit a certain form of information, that we then as readers take in, interpret, and synthesize into our lives.

What you do, every day, is read. In one way or another. To live is to read. To read is to live.

So, whatever you do, don't be illiterate.