My blogging experience

There were courses that required me to write posts on blogs. So writing blogs to me is nothing new. In previous courses, I was instructed to write on certain topics and they were basically story writing or some descriptive essays.

In this course, I am allowed to write on various topics. The only criteria is that the posts have to be about new media. Having granted so much freedom actually makes me uneasy. As there is so much I can write about, I am a bit lost and don’t know what should I work on. Therefore, at the end, I decided to write about videos and video games which I had tried to create during lessons.

Another new thing I have tried is to write a post with criticism. The plot is the only things I need to pay attention to when writing stories online. I have to make sure they are interesting to the readers. But writing critical essay is a completely different thing. Logic and support evidence are highly valued in critical essays. I find that my posts were mostly about my personal feelings of those new media. So, if I were given another chance to write my blog posts again, I would definitely do some research regarding to the chosen topics first before I officially started off.

Links to the comments that I have made on other people’s blogs:

Yvonne:

http://en4166yvonne-yvonne.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-digital-life.html#comment-form

http://en4166yvonne-yvonne.blogspot.com/2011/10/testing.html#comment-form

Joey:

http://en4166joey.blogspot.com/2011/10/live-legend-steve-jobs-1955-2011.html#comment-form

Anthony:

http://en4166anthonylai.blogspot.com/2011/11/relationship-built-by-facebook-how-real.html#comment-form

Raymond:

http://en4166raymondyu.blogspot.com/2011/11/funny-facebook-group-which-i-found.html#comment-form

http://en4166raymondyu.blogspot.com/2011/11/wants-to-be-creative-on-words-use.html#comment-form

Pick the right fuel!

Source: http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/103244/103244,1197224194,2/stock-photo-binary-code-moving-towards-the-lens-7668427.jpg

Last week, during the class, we had a chance to make a video game on our own. Again, I am not a professional, and I am not sure how many ways are there to make a simple video game. Yet, I’ve never expected it would be so easy. I don’t have to attend any video game code-writing courses in order to have a game done. All I need is to get to level 5 in Gamestar Mechanic.

Our group chose to work on the sustainable resources out of the three given issues. The most difficult parts of designing the game were that we had to familiarize ourselves with the program we were using and to achieve the intended goal which was to teach children something. For instance, our group spent quite a lot of time figuring how to add monster, or how to design a maze-like exciting route for the children. However, we spent even more time to come up with the game story. If we wanted to teach children that non-renewable energy sources are not good for the environment and that renewable energy sources are good, we have to give meaning to the game icons - the things that the avatar is going to consumer. Apart from the icons, we design a short and easier route for the avatar to consume non-renewable energy resources, and a relatively longer and more complex route to go to the renewable energy resources. The purpose of this design is that, we would like children to understand, using non-renewable sources seem easy but it is not going to help in the long run, and vice versa. I am not sure if everyone gets what we want to say, but with the detailed introduction at the beginning of the game, it defiantly helps explaining our ideas.

If you didn’t have the chance to play our breath-taking game during lesson last week, please click the following hyperlink. Enjoy!

Pick the right fuel!

http://gamestarmechanic.com/game/player/373154

Making my first video!

The great thing about technology is that it always surprises you with something you’ve never expected.

Like, I have never ever made a single video in my entire life because I used to think that it would be too difficult for me. I have never shoot a video, not to mention to cut, to edit, to add voiceover or background music to a video. However, better software comes out almost every day. With these improved programs, creating a video by non-professional is not as difficult as it was a couple years ago.

Having the chance to create a video on my own makes me feel that:

1) Amazingly, I am capable of making a video *0* And it tempts me to do more. Right now, I am planning to make a music video of one of my favourite songs. With lyrics, and with pictures of the singer, things like that… It could be very popular on Youtube! Who knows? Everything is possible! XD

2) The improvements on the programs year after year might be one of the factors contributing to the overwhelming videos on social networking sites. It is just my wild guess. But it could be real since all these video-editing programs have been simplified to suit the public. They are more user-friendly than before. So idiot like me can make video too.

3) Sharing becomes more diversified. Before the invention of computers, or the internet, people showed photos, objects, or just talked to others to achieve the purpose of sharing. Now, with the prevalence of videos, people can share everything and it is easy. People shared unforgettable moments in their life with others in the past. What about now? They can share music, photos, opinions and small bits of life all in one video. Online sharing is effortless, more people turn to this channel.

……

Well, of course, whether online sharing is good or not, it would be another issue.

What do you think, is it good or bad if people rely too much on online sharing? I will be more than happy to discuss with you.

I think I am slowly out of track here. But, no worries. Let's take a look at our group's (Anthony, Raymond and I) video when it was at the very beginning stage and it was still rough.

And here is the final version of our video!

With advance technologies, new innovations pop up every day. Especially after the various kinds of smart phones and handy devices were introduced to public, reading is no longer confined to paper only.

 Source: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2009/03/amazons-kindle-iphone-app-brings-uptodate-publications-to-the-iphone.html

I am the kind of person who is fond of reading books, but not news paper. However, after I have an iPhone with me, I gradually change my habit of reading (and I believe most of the people who have a smart phone with them change their reading habit like I do). When I go out, I always take along my phone but not necessarily a book. Therefore, reading these electronic books in iPhone instead of the heavy paper-type books is far more convenient.

I don’t like traditional new paper as it always dirty my hands. Yet, if I read news on my phone, things are so much easier – no dirty hands, concise articles, shorter movie clips, and a lot more images. The articles have been categorized nicely so I can find interesting news very quickly. When everything is simplified, reading news is not just a process to know what is happening around us, it is also an entertainment.

The followings are two of the websites I like to go the most in order to obtain the most update news:

1: Yahoo!

2: Apple Action News

The hottest news recently: the launch of iPhone 4S and its performance

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYZt97BOfAs

Even though I could read almost every book genre and I am a step closer to the world with more news I read each day. However, there are still some concerns. For instance, my eyes get tired very easily and quickly reading the super tiny words. As I like reading when I am lying on my bed before sleep, my short sight gets worse. And a research conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) in March 7, 2011 found that people are more difficult to fall asleep if they are exposed to artificial lights (which include the light from all communication technologies) before sleep.

Last but not least, if we think the act of reading news on the phone from a different angle, it is a kind of self-isolating actions. It is because if we click on the news websites whenever we have spare time, actually we are ignoring the chances of building or strengthening relationships with our beloved friends and family members.

Therefore, sometimes, when I hear people saying the end of print books and news paper is near, I know deep inside my heart, it is not true! :D

My Digital Life

Unlike many teenagers, I am not keen on watching TV nor surfing on the internet. Yet, there is one thing in common - I am addicted to my cell phone.

Source: http://www.bogost.com/images/content/blog/iphone.jpg

Having an iPhone with me, I am able to watch the most popular and recent clips or music videos on Youtube. I never leave comments on any Youtube videos, but I like reading other users’ comments. To me, I think some of these comments are useful to the clip owners, however, most of them are nothing more than jokes. I laugh and nod reading their creative comments – how they criticize someone or something ironically.

Let me share with you one of my favourite songs - A1, Learn to fly

Source: YouTube from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqKPwZ-0JU0

As I’ve subscribed to quite a number of newsletters, I check my mail box very often. Usually, there are more than 10 mails a day. I tend to scan the topic of each mail, if there is anything interesting, I’ll click inside and continue reading it. If I don’t find anything special, I’ll simply delete them. Besides checking emails, I check Facebook updates very often. I login to Facebook around once or twice per hour. Okay, to be honest, as I have an iPhone with me, I check my Facebook anytime I feel bored. Most of the time, I check it too frequently that I find no new updates there. Then, I’ll click on some of my friends’ page aimlessly and see if I’ve missed any news.

Before I sleep, I lie on my bed and repeat the above cycle once more.

Things expected on this course

Before this course began, I thought it would be about writing for innovative technologies. I thought it would be, to a certain extent, like public relation’s writings. That is, I write, like for a website, for promotional purposes or so. However, after the course begins, I find that it’s about understanding Web 2.0 and its impacts on us. For instances, to understand the popularity of some online writing tools, the differences between some of the jargons, to use online content-creation tools to write and share with everyone thus to facilitate communication. As an active online user, I hope that when this course finishes, I’ll grasp the concept of Web 2.0 and have an in-depth understanding about the virtual world.

First step into the world of media

Hi, everyone. This is Rita. Welcome to my blog. Hope you have a good time here. If you find anything interesting, please do not hesitate to leave me as many comments as you wish.