In this past summer, I went to my great aunt's. While there I scanned a bunch of her genealogy information and pictures she had accumulated throughout the years. In scanning, I am taking a physical medium (in this case: documents and dark-room printed photographs) and converting it into computer code through the scanner. For the scanned items to be in the computer, the computer has to translate the physical documents into a language that it can understand. From there, I think of the images or documents as files. I have adopted some of the jargon for computers into my language. My thinking has shifted from the physical media way to the digital media way of thinking.
Modularity:
When I create a multi-media image in photoshop that has text and images, I am creating something that has the same modular structure throughout, even though each element still holds onto it's samples (characters, pixels). There are separate pieces that combine to make a whole new thing, but they can still exist individually. They do not depend on each other to exist.
On
a Thanksgiving Day, twenty-one years ago, I was born, but that wasn’t all that
happened that day. Many families (in the US) gathered around their tables to celebrate
the holiday. This long ago day didn’t have a significant amount of major
events, but there were a few notable things in news, sports, and entertainment.
Many
times I have asked my parents about the day of my birth, but mostly all I’ve
heard was that I was born on Thanksgiving Day. Both of their memories are foggy
of that day, but they think that my older three brothers had been dropped off
at a friend’s house the night before.
My Dad's Hand-Written Notes of My Birth
I
was born in Amarillo, Texas at 10:43 AM. I was seven pounds even and nineteen and
three fourths inches long. My mom, until actually holding me, refused to
believe that I would be a girl, since she had only ever had boys.
In
world news, there was an attempted assignation of Prime Minister Atef Sedki in
Egypt. Only an eleven-year-old girl was killed in the blast of the bomb, but
eighteen more people were wounded (Hedges).
Another
event that people got to read about on the 25th, was the sentencing
of a kidnapper the day before the holiday. The man, David Merritt, was found
guilty and sentenced to eighteen years in prison for robbing, stabbing, and
beating a woman in March, 1993 (Kidnapper).
In
Suriname, a country in Northern South America, celebrated their eighteenth
anniversary of their independence from the Netherlands. The country has had a
varying range of governments in those eighteen years: from multiple military
regimes all the way to civilian rule (Suriname).
Suriname Flag
Map of Suriname
Moving
away from the terrible events surrounding the day of my birth, in
entertainment, people were able to watch Mrs.
Doubtfire, which had released the day before. By that weekend, the movie
had grossed $20,468,847 (Mrs. Doubtfire). This movie is still a classic today,
but, sadly, Robin Williams died last year on August 11, 2014.
There
weren’t any famous births on the exact date of my birth, but many famous people
have been born on November 25th. Jeffrey Hunter (if he had lived
past 1969) would have been turning sixty-seven. He was best known for being
John Wayne’s sidekick in many of his movies. Katie Cassidy (plays Laural Lance
on the show Arrow, based on the comic
books) had celebrated her seventh birthday. Christina Appelgate (Samantha Who?, Anchorman) celebrated her
twenty-second birthday (Novmeber). Those are just a few of the many notable
people born that day over the years.
Jeffrey Hunter
Katie Cassidy
Christina Appelgate
Claudia McNeil
Anthony Burgess
On
another sad note, Anthony Burgess (novelist of Clockwork Orange) died of cancer at the age of seventy-six. Actress
Claudia McNeil also passed away on this day. She died of diabetes at the age of
seventy-seven. She is most known for appearing in Raisin in the Sun (Today).
In
music news of that day, the top five songs that week were: Meat Loaf”s I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do
That), Mariah Carey’s Hero, Janet
Jackson’s Again, Tag Team’s Whoom! There It Is, and Ace of Base’s All That She Wants (World).
One
last things for entertainment, this Peanuts comic was published on the day of
my birth:
Thanksgiving
Day has always been a big day for football (which I will admit to not enjoying)
and, in a more notable game, the Dallas Cowboys played against the Miami
Dolphins. One of the Dallas players ended up botching the game by accidentally
kicking the ball closer to the opposing team’s goal. Right before that moment,
the game was 14-13, with the Cowboys in the lead and there was only fifteen
seconds left in the game. With the Dallas player’s mistake, the Dolphins scored
in the last few seconds to win the game 16-14 (11/25/1993). Had my dad been
able to watch the game, I’m sure he would’ve been grumbling at the loss for his
favorite team at the time, but I’m sure he didn’t mind missing it to hold his
only baby girl.
Having
been born on a US holiday, many events, other than Thanksgiving, would not have
happened and that’s why not too many major events took place. There were tragedies
on that day, but also celebration for Americans and the giving of thanks. My
parents were especially extra thankful on that day because of the birth of
their youngest child and only daughter.
11/25/1993 - Leon
Lett does it again. (2009, November 25). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.sbnation.com/2009/11/25/1169401/11-25-1993-leon-lett-does-it-again
Hedges, C. (1993,
November 25). EGYPTIAN PREMIER ESCAPES CAR BOMB. Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/26/world/egyptian-premier-escapes-car-bomb.html
Kidnapper At Mall
Gets 18-year Term. (1993, November 25). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-11-25/news/9311270048_1_parking-lot-sentenced-automatic
Mrs. Doubtfire.
(n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107614/
November 25
Birthdays | Famous Birthdays. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.famousbirthdays.com/november25.html
Suriname | history
- geography. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/575240/Suriname
Today in History
for 25th November 1993 - HistoryOrb.com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.historyorb.com/date/1993/november/25
World Event.
(n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://takemeback.to/25-November-1993#.VR14DPnF-So
Being
a person who doesn’t look at the news very often, I will typically hear about
some big issue and go and google it. Naturally, I gravitate to Google because
it is what I typically use and because it is easy.
On
a closer inspection on what I think is ‘better,’ after a perusal of both sites,
I still felt Google won. Just looking at their ‘home’ pages, Google doesn’t
have the aesthetic appeal that Huffington Post does, but it is more organized.
Topics are grouped on Google, whereas there is just a jumble on Huffington Post
(ignoring the navigation bar) and I found myself getting lost in all the
pictures and headlines on The Huffington Post.
Google:
Huffington
Post:
However,
one on this same issue, Huffington Post does have a clear navigation bar with
categories that drop down to give you even more specific choices. Google’s navigation
is on the side and it isn’t as user friendly. People want the navigation bar to
be in the same place on every site. If it isn’t on the top (or near it), they
don’t see it.
Huffington
Nav:
Google
Nav:
I
get most of my news by typing it into Google and searching. On the Huffington
Post site, they have a tiny search bar below their logo, which takes more time
than I want to spend to look for it. With Google, it’s all about searching, so
it takes no time at all for me to navigate to the information I want.
Huff
Search:
The search bar is so tiny and hard to see crowded by all the other things around it.
Based
solely on aesthetics, Huffington Post is better than Google. Huffington Post
focuses more on images and placement than Google does. The Huffington Post is
more creative with showcasing the popular news and not having all the stories
in a perfect grid (as the first Huffington Post image shows). Google’s layout
feels very crowded and they fill every inch of space with something. If I didn’t
just type in news to search on Google all the time, I think I would get more
overwhelmed with how it is presented on Google. It would be almost like
information overload, but at the same time, Huffington Post can feel like that
too with the over-emphasis on images.
Since
they both are trying to get the news across, I think Google is more effective because
they don’t overwhelm you with images, which people typically look at more than
text. Sure the images on Huffington Post grab viewer’s attention, but I find
myself just looking at the pictures, getting bored eventually, and leaving the
site because my attention span for news isn’t very long. If I’m looking to get
news, I don’t want to get too distracted with pictures, but I want to read the
blurbs that are provided, so Google comes out on top.
Talking
about the blurbs, Google rises above once again because the Huffington Post
mostly just utilizes catchy headlines, but doesn’t give any more information about
the article. I only have so much time to get updated on the news, so I want to
know that the article I am going to read will be relevant. Headlines can often
be misleading and I rarely want to trust them.
Overall,
I prefer Google because I like to utilize the search bar in finding news. The
site may not look as pretty as the Huffington Post site, but I feel like they
get you more information faster. There’s less navigation involved with Google
(mostly because Google’s purpose is to be a search engine that gets people the
information they want, faster). The Huffington Post is just a little too
focused on being pretty.
The
YouTube star, Nigahiga (Ryan Higa with the help of his friends) rose to the
ranks of stardom because of his humorous and satirical videos. He post many
styles of videos: anything from dares to commercial parodies to vlogs.
His large fan-base is drawn to his odd sense of humor that typically runs off
in long and random tangents.
On
his vlogs, he typically includes multiple skits that help set the vlog apart
from other YouTubers because it becomes more than him just talking to a camera
the whole time. His commercial parodies, such as GiveUpAndSettle.com that’s
below, are rich in sarcasm a complete one-eighty to the original concept.
GiveUpAndSettle.com is about a dating site that matches you up with someone
based on a very small percentage of compatibility and it causes the users to
settle for the one they got. The dare videos he does with his friends
are just fun videos where they all do stupid things. It’s easy to understand
why these videos get so many views because people seem to always watch the
videos of others doing disgusting and dangerous things.
All
of the content on his channel is very unique because his sense of humor comes
through in each video. Without YouTube, I don’t believe that he would have
gotten his success. No TV channel would’ve picked up his ideas and he wouldn’t
have had as much creative freedom if they actually did. He also couldn’t have
done his vlogs or videos of that nature because vlogs came about because of
YouTube.
YouTube
has given the power of entertainment to the public and anyone can become a star
with just a video camera and a good idea. vlog style:
Being a cat lover, I always like to see cute images like these and having had a cat before, I can totally envision what was going on in these pictures. These pictures are adorable and I think it's great that they capture the cat in times that make it actually look like the cat could be using the laptop quite successfully. This was a retweet of BuzzFeed's, which is the actual one I am following, so it just shows how important and influential retweets can be. If not for BuzzFeed retweeting it, I would have never seen this tweet.
A week or so ago, I saw the original story for this one where Nicole Kidman subtly tells Jimmy Fallon that she had a crush on him. They got through the whole story, which is hilarious because Jimmy Fallon was completely clueless at the time they first met and had no idea of her feelings. Now they are both happily married, to other people. I really liked this tweet because it's funny to see the story continue.
Being addicted to TV, I turn to Netflix quite often when I've caught up on all the shows that are currently on, but it is surely a dangerous time-sucking-black-hole once I start a new show. I originally loved this tweet because of the funny, and slightly true, image they have attached for the article. I did click on the link and go through all the 24 problems and I could identify with almost all of them, especially how I probably spend more time trying to figure out what to watch than I do actually watching anything (unless I found a TV show to binge watch).
