My Interactive writing

I intially took this course as a way to motivate me to finish my website. Unlike most of the writers in this class my goal is not to write for someone else or for some other company, my goal is to be able to write well so I can promote my art and the art of others. I have found that many of the same things that are required of a good artist are also required of a good writer: consider your audience, engage them in a meaningful way, leave them feeling entertained as well as informed. The concepts taught in this class will help me to create websites and other interactive media that is engaging and entertaining, and therefore more effective. Who knows, one day you may walk into a museum one day and use a kiosk designed by me. As for my goal to finish my website. It didn't happen, but I did get over several of the big hurdles that were keeping me from completing it, so it won't be long until I am ready for my official launch.

Understanding portal sites and what they are good for.

Chapter 12 was not a chapter that really appealed to me. I am really use oriented in my learning process, it is one of the reasons i really struggled with math. I want to know what I can do with what I am learning and how I can use it to better my web publications. It wasn't until the group presentation and the which is a portal activity that Rob presented that I really got involved with the material.
The presentation was much more interesting and the activity helped me to see that while I may not want my site to be a portal site, I definately do want to have links from portal sites to mine. Knowing what makes a portal site effective becomes important to me, because I want to be affiliated with good sites that are frequently used and easy to navigate. I can see how a well designed portal site could be used to bring traffic to my site and increase my exposure on the web.

Finally an interesting and somewhat useful chapter

I know. I am shocked too. When the author started talking about the T. Rowe site and who wrote it, and how the company was started, and changed and, blah, blah, blah; I started thinking here we go again, another chapter filled with useless information. Then all of the sudden, the author started talking about the production process, and the old website, versus the new and, how the changes improved the function of the site. It actually made sense and I found some information I could use. I really like the distinction he made between customization and personalization. I have been thinking about my website and what I would like to do with it in the future. I was thinking I would like to make it more personalized for my users. But it turns out that I want to make it customizable, so that the user can determine what is important to them and what they want simplified. I was also wondering if I should have a redundant menu option at the top of my main page. Turns out that the top menu is my global navigation, and it appears on every page so the user can navigate from one page to any other without going to the home page. I know this sounds funny to those who are old hands at this, but it was news to me and something I would have overlooked for sure.

Making a flow chart

The chapter on using a flowchart to illustrate how my website will work was interesting, but it did not come together until we actually used the Microsoft word shapes in class that I really understood how to make it work for my website.
I was worried that creating this flowchart was going to be really difficult. Last semester I did a project that used words and shapes in Illustrator and it was, to say the least a nightmare. I am glad that this program is so easy to use and i am actually looking forward to making my flowchart

Holding out for the information the writer promises to give in later chapters.

I found the reading in Chapter Eight a little bit uninformative. And I have a bit of a criticism for the writer. The reason I found it less informative than the others chapters, is that the main areas it covered in detail are areas I am not really interested in, and do not foresee writing in, specifically games. I know this will come as a bit of a shock to most, but I do not play any of the video games that most guys are interested in. So writing a video game is very low on my list. The criticism I have is that the author for all of his education and knowledge about interactive media and the need to be engaging has not learned how to write a book that is really readable. But I am willing to forestall my judgment until we get further into the book and see if he gets more focused on areas that matter to me. I did like the second to last section where he talks about the need to learn how to learn and that being able to explore what if is important. As a writer and an artist I find that a creative imagination willing to explore uncharted territory is my most important asset. :)

It was like Deja Vu

I had to go back to the Syllabus and make sure I hadn't fallen behind in my reading when I started reading Chapter Four. Turns out that I was on track, even though the information we covered in class went over everything that was in the chapter. It is so much more complicated than it used to me. I have been involved with several small businesses where the writer is the the content strategist, designer, director, business strategists and of course whipping boy. Things were simpler then. You didn't know what your title was or what one segment of the project was called but you knew whose job it was to get it done and make it work. But most of that work was linear and non interactive. With interactive multi-media being the future of communication it really does make sense to know who does what and how team members work together, because I know there is no way I could put a project that requires computer programming and any kind of media together without help.

The Interactive Writer

I have been involved in many kinds of writing. I found "Writing for Many Media" very informative. The best part of the chapter, or at least the part that looks most like a child got let loose with a marking pencil, was the section on web pages. I thought this was great information. A lot of it was simular to the advice I got when I was learning copywriting for print ads. It was good basic information: Know your audience. Be clear and keep your writing simple. And of course, the one I have the nost trouble with - Be brief.
I also liked the the research on what people respond to. Like the fact that most people like short simple sentences, but read longers sentences faster. Since I am in the process of developing my own web page, having this information on the top of my brain will really help me stay on track. At least that the theory.

Online information.

As I mentioned earlier I think anyone can find anything online. I use the internet as a resource for all of my classes. The problem is first finding the information and second making sure it is valid.
As far as finding the information, Boolean search words and techniques are really helpful with most search engines. The way I use them is I get a notebook and write down all of the possible ways I can describe what I am looking for. Then I look for conflicts. for example "rock" I do a lot of lapidary work so finding cool rocks is important to my work. But typing "rock" into a search fields is more likely to land results about AC-DC than any type of stone, but naming the rock, for instance, Variscite, will bring up a very limited number of responses. The other disadvantage is varacity or validity. The internet is like a living library that has filed all the books and newspapers alphabetically but has not separated the fiction from the nonfiction section. Oftentimes information found on the internet is about as valid as a information from a psychic found listed in the back of the National Enquirer. It is just not very good. The way I get around this is that I use the internet to find information that I can verify through other sources. If it is a business, I contact them and do my due diligence to find out how reputable they are. By doing this I was able to buy a machine that would have cost me 40,000 dollars from an American company, from a company in India for 8,000 dollars. While writing my diet book I would come across articles that quoted research. I did not use the article in my diet book, but I did look up the research source and use that information. This is information I would have never found without the help of the article. I would say that the best way to limit what might be questionable information is to use the internet as a secondary source of information that can lead to solid, reliable, useable information.

Technology/Literacy/Autobiograpghy

My Grandfather was one of the first computer programmers at Nasa. I started learning about computers from him. the first computer programming language I learned was called Basic Basic. I started with a computer from Radio Shack that connected to a regular TV as a monitor. Space Invaders was my favorite game and was only available in the arcade. Pong was the only Computer game you could play at home. In any case, I wanted to program a Space Invaders game on my little computer so Icould play at home. I got about 3/4 of the way through before I gave up. I couldn't figure out how to make it fire and destroy the little space invaders. That was the first and last time I tried to do any computer programming.
I Kind of started out on the internet when it first became a public activity. I didn't use it for research or shopping like i do today. I used it for e-mail and chat rooms. They were the big thing back then and I used it as a way to keep in touch with my kids and other family member because making long distance calls was so expensive. Now I have a cell phone that lets me call anywhere I want for free getting me to type a message , or text one for that matter, is no small effort.
I set up my face book page when my brother called and talkred me into it. He was really into Facebook and doing the whole posting thing. I never really thought of it as something I wanted to do, and when he stopped doing facebook I quit logging in. If they have a web site that list the lamest Facebook pages on it, you will probably be able to find mine somewhere near the top of the list. Ironically now that social networking is used as an advertising method Tweeting and Blogging are things that I am more interested in.
I use the internet now for research, buying and selling, and online poker(for fun). I honestly believe you can find anything on the internet if you know how to look for it. I am a jewelry maker, and I buy alot of faceted stone online for a fraction of the price it would cost anywhere else. Before I buy art material I do research online for the best price and most reputable sources. It always saves me money. My website Everista.com will soon be up and running and will not only sell my art work but several other artists work as well. As for my online poker, I just broke 15 million in play money chips. When I am up I wish it were real, and when I am down a million I am glad it is not.