Blog Almighty.

My Three Nominated Posts.

The three blog-posts i nominate to be marked on are-

Blogging At It’s Best. March 18th 2009.

Same Old. April 1st 2009

Back On Track. April 29th 2009

My “Meta-Blog”

So here I am, at the end of an era. Crossing the Networked Media Production finish-line. 

At the beginning of this course I really had no idea what to expect or what I was even going to learn. This course introduced me to the entire blogging world and a side of the internet I never knew existed. Since becoming a blogger I’ve found myself more and more intrigued by the massive amounts of information on the web as well as the fascinating and wonderful projects people share online. I’ve been consistently amazed by what we’ve been shown on the delicious links each week. Apart from the learning aspect of this project I’ve also found it really quite calming to actually write down my thoughts, as I’ve never kept a diary this is somewhat of a new sensation to me. Following other blogs of people that seem interesting to me has really opened my eyes, by keeping up to date with the thoughts and opinions of people that I don’t know personally has really given me a sense of open-mindedness. Through this project I’ve also learned about every kind of media and how it is successfully networked across the web. By studying the process and techniques of networking your produced media I’ve seen how it is possible for any person to become larger than life on the internet, or just have their opinions heard by those who are interested.

The first thing we talked about this term was the definition and purpose of a blog (web log). At the time, little did I know this tool would become the biggest part of the course ahead.  We discussed the differences in various blogging platforms eg- Twitter compared to Blogger. Eventually I chose to blog through tumblr.com as I was told this was the most suitable for an inexperienced blogger but with not too many constraints. Once we were all set up the next step was to explore the web in blog-form. I chose to follow a number of blogs, mostly artists that interested me. By following other blogs I really got an idea of what I was meant to do and how to do it. Throughout a lot of my blog I struggled to write about things outside of the lecture material, this problem eased once I had really settled into my blog but I still think I could have used more of a personal touch.

So as the weeks went on I continued to learn about aspects of networked media, things that always confused me were now making perfect sense. Once our blogs were under control we started to look at the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) now this is a concept I thought I would never get. Once it had been thoroughly explained in the lecture and in the lab finally understood, I even surprised myself with the in-class HTML exercise.  After our brief encounter with HTML we moved on to the Application Programming Interface. This topic focussed on what they do and how they work, we were shown various examples of APIs through the delicious links, like an API that collects tweets from twitter.com, organises and visualises them by emotive words used in each post. “Carving Up the World” was a topic I had a lot of fun getting my head around. I learned that by following traditional conventions in the physical world and the online world we are able to produce and share media that is attractive to the audience and that the design of a web-page can really impact on the traffic it receives. Up next was Production Project A, for this assignment I chose to produced an online exhibition. Using what I had I created an exhibition in blog form that displayed images and information about the process and traditions of the tattoo culture. I presented this on tumblr.com as well. Presenting this project really helped me discover new things about the techniques of blogging. After the post project smoke had cleared I had returned ready for NMP. The first topic back was “Web 2.0”. We learned the distinguishing differences between the modern internet and traditional media. The fact that Web 2.0 is highly interactive is the main separation between the two. We discussed the positives and negatives of such differences heard each others opinions. The next big word to hit my “NMP big word list” was Multiplicity, this concept showed us wonderful examples of what people can do in media production, we learned about the “Wisdom of Crowds” and how a system can become more intelligent as more people use it. The last lecture topic was on Data Visualisation, this showed us the process of turning a page of statistics into a professional layout of information that will excite and attract the audience. For Production Project B I chose to create a geo-narrative using Google Maps, this project really brought out my creative side by forcing me to write probably the first real narrative I’ve ever written.  After a whole lot of  time spent on Google maps I came out with what I think I pretty damn good geo-narrative.

As it seems, my blog doesn’t have much of an audience, well it’s basically whoever is reading this. If I had my time over, I would add more personality to my blog and not so much boring info about the classes. But hey, maybe I’ll just have to save all of that personality for my next (non-compulsory) blog.. which I would have never thought about posting without the influence of this class.

Slaving Away.

Just an update.. not quite sure if this week requires a blog post so I’m going with safe rather than possibly sorry.

In the last week I’ve taken a rather drastic swing in directions regarding my geo-narrative, I scrapped my original narrative idea and decided to write my story from scratch. A risky move I know, but I’m hoping it’s one that will pay off. Also it turns out that searching for very specific photos on the web isn’t as easy as it seemed.

So at that i’ll cease to bore you with my desperate blog-filling.

Awaiting the power of knowledge.

They say data is everywhere, all we have to do is locate it. Representation? That’s the next step. To engage a human audience we need to use tools that spark visual response, and what we can interpret with ease. They include colour, scale, movement, shape and change of position. Data Visualisation is changing; it is becoming more interesting and being employed to express important messages. However, there is plenty of room for more trivial data to be visualised such as the information found in social networks. Millions of people continue to interact via the internet and all of this information is displayed on websites like Facebook and Twitter. I found a particularly interesting example of data visualisation through the delicious links,  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/04/sports/olympics/20080804_MEDALCOUNT_MAP.html

Today in my computer lab we will be learning the process of using google maps to create a geo-narrative. I have planned out my ideas for the story structure and once i have learned how to use google maps to display my story it looks like smooth sailing. I’m hoping that after this lesson i will know enough about how to use the program to go home an knock out the majority of the work. (For my weekends’ sake.)

In completely un-related news- last week i bought myself a macbook pro, so far i’m loving it!

Slow and steady.

The phrase “combinational explosion” -meaning an explosion of possibilities, refers to the concept of mutliplicity. The digital world is infinite, and because of this it does not adhere to physical scale. An application in the digital world can only be as big as a hard drive will allow it. Many users using one program creates “wisdom of crowds” this wisdom encourages independence of thought and opinion and diversity of information and opinion.Thus, the more people that use an application the more intelligent that system will become. An example of multiplicity is found in various project over the web. On the delicious links we were show a set of photographs taken in manhattan, the photographer takes loads of photos from one single point and then edits the photos to bring certain similar aspects of each photo together. For example we saw pictures where every person is smoking or holding a yellow folder.

http://www.v1gallery.com/artist/show/3

I’ve been doing some research and gathering some ideas for production project B. I’m planning on creating a geo-narrative and i have some ideas that i will have to run past nathan in my next tute about the capabilities of google maps and whether or not i can introduce various characters that move simultaneously in different directions across the world map. Hopefully i get some good news and can get a solid foundation for my project by the weekend.

Back on track.

Today in our computer lab we discussed the topic of the lecture (which i regretably missed). The conversation was based on the diffferences between social networked media or “web 2.0” (eg. facebook, youtube, amazon, flickr.) and the traditional media sources (eg. television, radio, news reports and newspapers.), the main differances we discussed were the accessabilty, user interaction and the immidiacy of information in modern social media.

Although social media seems much more relevant to today’s society, it also has many flaws and faults, for example- any form of information on the internet can be edited and re-published as different and possibly false information. Also the issue of privacy invasion has become a problem on web 2.0 with websites such as facebook and even google maps becoming a possible source for people to gather private information about other people for negative reasons. In the lab we watched a few short clips about social networked media, one was a simplified outline of social media, the other was a comical music video poking fun at the “flame-war”- the process of user interaction on the web becoming nothing more than a means of insulting one-another an completely disregarding the actual topic of the conversation.

In the second half of the lab Nathan talked us through the options for Production Project B and showed us some examples of possible outcomes. At the moment I am thinking of doing the second option- a geo-narrative. I’m not exactly sure of how i will create this project but i do have some ideas planned for the narrative.

My return to BLOG.

So I’m back at uni after an amazing mid-semester break. Over the break I discovered several new blogs that i was turned onto by friends living in Thailand. One blog in particular “FML” which I’ve fallen in love with. So now I’m back on track, getting excited for the post-production project classes.

Bring it on!!

Fiinally..

This week I finally completed my Online Exhibition, after alot of hard work and frustrated fist-fulls of hair it’s done!

I feel like i’ve learned alot about networking information while doing this assignment. I was actually suprised by what i had done when i looked back at the final product.. I feel like I’m now considerably more comfortable using blogging platforms. This week i also finished my first assignment for Intro to media production, I created a triptych photograph to portray my sense of self. So the stress is gone at last.. All i have to do now is board a plane to sunny phuket for 14 days of bliss.. before all this crap happens again.

peace!

Same old.

This weeks lecture “Carving up the world”, outlined the structures and patterns of the world and of the internet. It defined and compared the differences and similarities between the physical world and the internet. To understand and accept any form of information in our lives, we must divide and distinguish the universe into areas in space and time.. much like the way the internet accepts and distributes information. We saw that the way data is structured online and in the physical world can determine whether or not it can be understood. The lecture gave examples of how we as humans structure the elements of our lives into patterns- such as clothes, food and music. Michael also defined the limitations of the real world and the internet, this helped to show how and why certain elements of the web are apparent. The differences in design patterns between traditional media (books, etc) and the information displayed on the internet can be seen as time progresses, the importance of making information attractive to the viewer comes down to the design of a web-page. On the internet this concept is becoming increasingly important. By following the traditional conventions, people can understand information being given to them because they are used to the process, over time conventions and patterns are altered and progress is undertaken until the way in which we view information is completely different. I think this is what is generally achieved by the use on the internet.

I’m not exactly sure if I’ve responded correctly to the intended learning material, but that is what i took from the lecture.

So this week I’ve been gathering information for my online exhibition and learning quite alot along the way. While browsing content for my assignment i’ve been continuously impressed and inspired by some of the tattoo style artworks i’ve seen and information i’ve read about the history and culture of tattooing.

http://www.triera.net/upload/avtomobilizem/travis_show.jpg

This is one of the best pictures i came across. It shows Travis Barker, the drummer from bands such as blink-182, +44 and the transplants, . He famed for sporting some of the most recognisable tattoos in the industy.

I have recently illustrated a few examples of the styles of tattoo i’ve been researching for my presentation.

http://s274.photobucket.com/albums/jj252/timmo8/draws/?action=view&current=2722648010_583ddc8255small.jpg

This is a slightly modernised and very simple example of the traditional japanese style of tattoo art.

http://s274.photobucket.com/albums/jj252/timmo8/draws/?action=view&current=2721825747_36b5f37b33small.jpg

This is another very simple example of the traditional ‘americana’ style of tattoo art.

Gettin’ my blog on.

There was no lecture this week so I decided to put extra special devotion into surfing the net and finding some new interesting blogs, ahh how challenging life can be. I try to keep my blog-browsing broad in context but while searching blogs I always seem to find myself following artist’s (usually sketch or cartoon) blogs.. but I guess people just stick to what they’re into. These are just some blogs i have followed this week.- http://emks.tumblr.com/, http://zucherman.tumblr.com/, http://www.BryanWaterman.com/

Today in our lab Max went through the process of presenting our assignment in blog form, he says that my online exhibition will still resemble a web-page, but presenting it on a blogging platform will be alot less complicated and will bare the best results. I now feel alot more confindent about presenting my online exhibition and i’m actually really looking forward to it. I’ve decided to focus on the history and culture of tattoo art and the practice of tattooing. I chose to use this as my topic because it’s something I’ve been interested in for a long time, also as a hobby i draw tattoo designs and illustrations. I think that basing my project on something I am interested in and already have quite a lot of knowledge on will really give me and advantage as well as an incentive in making it a quality production. I chose to use tumblr to present my exhibition because it’s quite user friendly and I am already familiar with it. I have continued gathering images and information for my online exhibition using Yahoo pipes and searching for images licenced by creative commons.