Gerard's Blog

Meta Post

2008-10-31T02:11:00.000-07:00

The final post !

my my my, how the year has flown by :)

I can't belive exam week in NEXT week! so much study so very little time.

Well this certainly has being a interesting unit for me. I've come in half way through the course (media) to be jumpstarted by the icelab boys. It was a great way of getting to learn the basic and some advanced structures of networked. Before this unit I had never heard the phraise Web 2.0! So many more places of interests on the net than i thought. Now i notice the smaller things that are placed around a webpage which i previously neglected.Such as RSS feeds KML feeds, delicious links and the structure of how things are build with HTML and the rest.

Also I find myself looking deeper into the structure of websites whether it be in the HTML coding or trying to find an RSS link or other little gadgets.

The creation of the Blog was a great idea to get everyone interacted in networked media. It forced us to think for ourselves and explore new options. The blog also allowed for everyone to have their own voice, and view others opinions. I've tried to create my own links to certain websites on my blog. Also i have links to popular pages that we have learned about.

The projects have been fun and very interactive. Definetly increased my knowledge in a whole new area of the internet and other structures. I'm actualy a big fan of Flickr now planining to show some of my friends who enjoy taking photo graphs.

I also take more notice of copyright and understand how it's being managed on the internet. Now I can apply it to my own work when i need too.

The three blog posts i nominate are: Saturday, October 18, 2008 Data Visualisation, Saturday, September 27, 2008 HTML. Max's lecture and Saturday, October 11, 2008 API

Cheers.

Project B

2008-10-31T00:17:00.000-07:00

As you know I have chosen to do task two the flickr/google maps choice. In the end i think it was the best choice for me. Creating the project was great fun :p In saying that... it doesn't mean i didn't have any problems! I was stuck for a huge amount of time on making a KML file from my flickr photos. In time i figured out how to get my photo stream to be converted into KML which was good but it gatherd other photos i did't want in the file.

So i needed to find a way to convert a Flickr photo set into a KML file. I was browsing through the net and i found the perfect site: http://www2.adamfranco.com/photosetToKML.php. This made it easier to select my prefered photos. I also realised that the geotagged photos in Flickr did not have great acurracy compared to google maps, So slight adjustments had to be made to the position of the photos. Adam Franco's webtool allowed for two main options either KML or Google map output. i tried the google map option but it did not allow you to edit anything so I stuck with the KML option.

A cool feature of Adams website was it created a thumbnail/placemark of the actual photo not just a pin like picture. i learned from this project such as KML flexibility and if you look hard enough you'll find what your looking for.

I'll email you guys the link to my google map. It's called Brent's encounters

21 steps wish it were that easy

2008-10-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

i Have seen the 21 steps on the suggested websites and it looked great! wish i could create that for my second assignment. Don't think i'll be able to create an animating program that works with google maps...

The story has given me greate ideas though!

Data Visualisation

2008-10-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

Data is everywhere! It amazing how it can all be gathered up to create a great display of information and knowledge. The tutorial on this subject really stood-out to me. It showed me how the collection of data can reveil things that my have been missed in the past. The two TED videos were a great show of how data can be gatherd up and utilised to show the 'Bigger picture'.

Also it dawned on me that visualisation like this is being shown to me everyday. Such as the weather report for the week. It is all conveniently placed up on screen to get a message across, this is all taken for granted. The finicial report is also a huge congregation of data for the public to view.

Another great display of large amount of data is the current A.C.T election. Television programs display the data for the home viewers to keep up with who is winning. Also the ABC website provides a detailed look at the polls so the viewer can read at his/her disgretion.

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/act/2008/

I Have Chosen!

2008-10-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

I have decided to go with the Google map story for my second assignment. I have to figure out how to use both Flickr and Google maps interfaces. Somehow i need to bring geotagged photos in flickr to google...

API

2008-10-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

APIs seem like they can create alot of power for them selves in the sense that is. Some of the programs seem more usful than the original system. The add-ons seem really inivitive and allow helpfull short-cuts and felxibility. however it would probably be easly taken away by an upgrade of the original system. I never realised that i used an API for one of the games i used to play. It was a program that tapped into the screen of the game but it added all these alternate functions and short-cuts to the game. Maybe thats why it was being questioned by the creators of the game...as it may give an unfair advantage to the player..but it was allowed to stay :)

This is where you downloaded it.
http://www.swiftkit.net/

Thinking

2008-10-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

I was wondering what choice i should pick for my second assignment.... i have narrowed it down to DataVisualisation and the google map tour. after hearing michael's talk on data and the videos we wached it seemed a rather good chioice to go with. Never really thought how making data visualy pleasing to the eye could reveil certain things like trends.

Present Past and Future.

2008-09-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

Phewwww the MRA essay is done with! Handed it in .. hope i do alright.. was a essay on spectacle so it was a bit interesting. Other than that it going to be a pretty average week. Even tho it's week 11 exams aren't too far away i can already smell them! can't forget the NMP quiz :S i'll have to study for that. i already feel like i am learing a lot of new things. I thought i knew alot about the web and its content..... horribly mistaken :S

HTML. Max's lecture

2008-09-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

The only time that i had used HTML before was in year 11 to make a very basic web page. HTML is the most popular language system to create quick and efficient websites. Max's opinion is that is quick and simple to learn and become good at using it in the long term. The code (language) that it uses presents itself as straight forward. In the tutorial during the creation of the icecream website it became obvious that CSS made creating a good page really helpfull. The CSS in combination with HTML work well to make a "short-cut effect" also makes positiong easier. Can't imagine building a site without one. Like the times where tables were used to organise data. Other markup languages like XML and XHTML have their positives but requier more knowledge on the system used. Thats why i thought it would be sensible for a beginner to begin with HTML and learn from there.

Back from Break

2008-09-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Break is over. Could hardly call it a break with the amount of work having to be completed during this "break". Still was good to tone it down a little... sleep in a bit. Too bad as some of my friends weren't on a break since they go to different universities.. had to tease them about that :p , i'm sure that they will to the same when they are on their break. So now it's back to work yay! -.-

Project A

2008-09-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

I have decided that i will be using Picasa web albums to create my online exhibition. I chose to make a collection of things created in flash. I had other choices in mind for which site i should use but i ended up with Picasa. Flickr and Tate looked fine but i wanted to try Picasa out. The handy thing about using Picasa is that it is all in the same Google package. My Google login includes: my blog, my Rss reader and now my gallery. This made it easy to navigate around my work. Also having the program Picasa 2 helped with uploading the photos. I will email you all the think to my exhibition.

Multiplicity | ////////////////////// < Lots of them

2008-08-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

2008-08-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

I have been rather busy lately...but hey who isn't !!

Running around doing school work. Working at my job. Catching up with friends! a loads more.
Anywho i have been pondering on what number task i should stick to for my first assignment. Thinking number two ( online exhibition). Maybe on Flikr or a blog not reall sure but i'm sure i'll decide soon.

2008-08-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

Flash the wave of the future? My background.

I first got interested in flash in college year 12. I had never experienced anything like it. Never having any knowledge of how a program like flash worked i started seeking answers for the many questions i had. Started getting used to flash 8(action script 2.0) and was enjoying it. During year 12 we had to create a few animations in flash and a final project on what ever program we wished. Choosing flash i decided to create a web page. First of all it was going to load the pages externally, however the schools internet simulation was rather slow. So i decided to integrate each page to the site. It was a success and my friends enjoyed it.

Having been a wile since i have gotten back on to flash it is really hard to keep up. Before i knew it there was a new flash program (CS3) and a new action script language(3.0)

The most popular sites on the net seem to be rather simple e.g Google, Flickr and delicious. So that everyone can have simple access to them and not be bothered with having too slow a connection.

However Flash allows for easy to build animation and construction of ads in websites... thats why you usually see a combination of the both in one place. Also the sleek applicable design of flash products can be pleasing to the eye and keep the user interested.. almost like a game.

So as long as you can keep up with flash it can be a very useful tool!

2008-08-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

Good - http://www.proyectiva.com/
http://www.flashmint.com/show-template-1903.html
http://www.flashmint.com/show-template-2054.html

Not so good - http://www.testemale-photos.com/

2008-08-11T03:16:00.000-07:00

Just trying to get rid of this cold! Just got a job which is pretty cool earning money and all..

The lecture on carving up the world had some smaller elements that i had never thought about before. The design patterns through out the course of time like titles on the front and spine of books. Later on this was applied to the web design. e.g Logo at top left of screen, link text different colour. Speaking of which I'm going to try and add tags to the end of my posts.

For the production task i think that i will try out option 2 the online exhibition. Have been thinking on what i should curate... I have also created Google, Deliciouses and Yahoo accounts to help my tasks and productions. Soon i will try and obtain a RSS feed reader perhaps Google or Bloglines.

P.S Never used a Macintosh before.. getting used to them XD

2008-08-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

Getting more used to the idea of having a blog to attract attention of anyone who is interested. Coming into this course i didn't know what to expect in relation to studying media in the theory sense however this course is making it easier to understand the binary of the system. Upon surfing the net after (attending the lectures and tutorials) i encountered so many different small symbols that i never knew what they meant! e.g the deliciouses symbol RSS feeds and XML buttons.

2008-07-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Blog.

This is the first blog I have created. I never really imgained that people actually obtained jobs and created carreas via blogs! However after attending the lectures and tutorials i can clearly see how this is possible.