4 in 1 - the MEGA post!

Update - this page is no longer a place holder - it's been filled with content:

1. Photo Essay - A blast from the past, a reflection on what was going on with me exactly 3 years ago in the form of a MySpace post that started "bloggy" and turned into a Photo Essay explaining what I'd been up to. If I was producing a new one I imagine I'd have gone in a slightly more poetic/less literal direction.
   
2. Podcast:
   
3. Short Film:
   
   and oh yeah:
   
4. The "Podcast" segment is also my long-overdue reading response of Andrew Feenberg's Critical Theory of Technology

So really, while I have an example of each, I only produced the podcast specifically for NMS 501, the photo essay and video were things I'd already done quite some time ago. Blogging about what went into pod casting can go in this post as well, I suppose so here it goes - it took a ton of repetition - then there was the quest for a "quiet" zone, ultimately leading me to the garage where my improvised recording studio was inside this:

Things I'd do better the next time I go on a pod casting spree:

1. I'd buy a dedicated mic
2. I'd maybe build me a soundproof mini-room somewhere inside the house
3. I'd segment the podcast more and last but not least...
4. I'd make sure to take advantage of the multi-take feature of my pod casting software that I wish I would've known about during the making of this podcast.

It was fun and I kept my distance from creating an "enhanced" podcast since adding pictures to the audio would really just push me into opening my video editing program of choice and doing something I've done a ton more of over the years. Be sure to let me know what you think of any of this stuff in the comments section, I'm always curious to find out what people think!

Victim #439,302,224,175 of bad design!

Generally it's assumed that gadget-addicted/technology-obsessed people, such as myself, can figure out how to work with the latest toy they get their hands on in mere milliseconds but let me assure you, people of "my type" are NOT IMMUNE to bad design - we've just had that much more *ahem* practice *ahem* so we know how to find a way around bad design quicker.

Having said that, the title of my blog is just a number I'm estimating - a few hundred times the world population because I'm taking in account the people who lived and died dealing with bad design and then chances are anybody who's encountered bad design has encountered it more than once in their life. The image above displays one device that had me puzzled for longer than I'd ever want to publicly admit.

Meet the Samson Zoom H2 <- the name links you to their website too, where you can see they proudly open things up by claiming that:

Simplicity is a beautiful thing.

I agree with that statement, and let me make another one - the Samson Zoom H2 FAILS horribly at maintaining simplicity. Let me explain - this is by far the WORST device I've used recently, in terms of the feedback it provides (or doesn't). Aside from a tiny screen with a back light that seems to go out every .2 seconds to save the battery there is only 1 light on the device provided for feedback. I will help you find it:
YUP, that's it! The Samson design engineers sure were not kidding around when they decided to simplify things, they put a single light on the unit! How is that a bad thing, after all the light can even do 2 colors, green and red, what else do I want?

Well, let me tell you what happened when I tried to help my sister who was struggling to get the thing to record anything at all.

1. I made sure that the unit is on
2. I put the headphones on expecting to hear what the microphone is picking up
3. I hit record (the big red button in the middle, props on the design as far as that goes)
4. I started hearing what the microphone was picking up, recited my Hamlet monologue and stopped the thing.
5. I tried to play what I had JUST recorded ... and I got NOTHING!!!

Did I READ the manual? Of course NOT! Good design should be self-explanatory. After repeating many variations of the 5-step process described above (all resulting in failure to record anything meaningful) I gave up and hooked up the stupid thing to the computer to see if I could find my files - maybe it had been recording my stuff and the unit was simply refusing to play it.

I found myself in a wasteland of 1 second audio files. Many users must have suffered great pains from the little box of pure evil named the Zoom H2 "Handy Recorder" both during the day and at night (I was looking at the time files were created... only to be abandoned).

Another attempt made me realize what was happening - when I'd try to stop the recording it was a bit tricky - as I found out, that is when the recording would barely begin - the little box of evil would start blinking at its user, giving them that false sense of accomplishment (that they have started recording) and then when people would try stopping the recording the little light would go solid red for a second (and THAT would be the time when it'd actually record something) only to go out right after.

I realize very well my post so far seems like nothing but some whining so let me change that by providing a very simple solution that would take their design from horrible to great just like that:

What if they had that design in place of the 1 tiny light?

People already know the rather universal signals for play, pause and record from a whole bunch of other devices that use them.

Would that have cost the company that much more to implement?

Does it even matter all that much for "play"?

Probably not but I think it makes a heck of a difference in the next 2 pictures:


Perhaps the colors are not the best choices since with traffic lights RED doesn't typically mean "Go" but even if the symbols all emitted the same kind of light, imagine one day the screen's back light broke and so did the screen itself - then it'd probably look like this:


Perhaps I should send Samson my solution and see if they'd consider it for the next revision of their device. Looking back on this blog now that I'm wrapping it up - my gosh, what an effect the Usability Engineering (and reading from Pro seminar in New Media Studies) have had on me, now I'm anxious to go fixing problems in the world (one tiny voice recorder interface at a time)...

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Did you know that today is Blog Action Day?

Yeah, neither did I... but it's important to be keeping that in mind - not simply because they have a great goal [addressing Poverty in the world] (it was The Environment in 2007), but also because that is an attempt for new media to make traditional media pay attention to what the people out there (blogger folk across the world) have to say.

One Issue, Thousands of Voices



I know spreading the word about doing something is not the same as actually doing something but rather than give a long list of things I may do or that you could do, I will admit my creativity at 6am is limited and simply link you to some amazing lists of things that can be done, posted on their website:

http://site.blogactionday.org/

So to end this post, in short, Blog Action Day has a double significance to me - once for its cause and twice for its means of making things happen. I really hope it works - I think it will, what do you think?

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Things on my TODO list between now and the full-time post-academic career-focused 1st "job"

WHY do I have "job" in quotes like that?

Because I've been narrowing things down, eliminating jobs I don't consider interesting - jobs I'd get bored doing or jobs that simply don't match my personality. What I am left with, if I've done the proper amount of job elimination over the years, is no longer a job (to me) - it's more of a paid hobby, something I do for fun already! It just so happens to call for a valuable mix of skills and perspective that could lead to a beautiful symbiotic relationship between me and some company out there looking for the kind of person who knows what the best ways to act in this New Media World are.

I say this at the risk of coming off as a cocky/arrogant but I prefer to think of it as me being an  optimistic person who's done their research and all the research supports the optimism exhibited. I'm pretty excited about my future. Next question!

WHAT's with the graphic at the beginning of your post? (and can you make a blog post without a graphic for a change?)

The graphic is a bunch of the most popular Lifestream icons, compiled by one of my favorite blogs out there - Read Write Web. (and no, I can't make a graphic-less post!)

It's from Sarah Perez's latest post on there - Hey Businesses! Social Media Users Want Your Attention - a very encouraging article for me, since I've already been keeping track of all the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to social media. Here's the intro:

For any company that thought social media was a passing fad not worthy of their time, the numbers coming out of a recent study published by Opinion Research Corporation for Cone should come as a wake-up call.

According to that study, 85% of Americans using social media think companies should have an active presence in the social media environment. What's even more interesting is that those users actually want the companies to interact with them while there.

What does that mean?

NO, it doesn't mean I'm Neo (but that'd be nice...) - it means my dedication to latest gadgets and web-services will pay off, if not in any other way, then as me becoming a Social Media Expert and best of all I already have some great ideas on how to be able to show my level of awareness both online and in an interview with a potential employer. Then I have my Communications background and my computer knowledge - bonus points!!

This post was supposed to be about what I need to do between now and the time I get my Master's and not about me in dream-world even if, looking at the time perhaps I am stuck in a dream bubble of some sort. Things I need to ABSOLUTELY do before walking out of DePaul:

• Seek out an internship or a co-op that involves trade-show experience - I'd love to be on stage and while I've had my tiny chances every now and then I keep visiting a million websites learning all kinds of cool stuff and I really want to share some of the coolest things out there with an audience. One way to accomplish such a thing is to become a Marketing/Communication Specialist.
• WORK ON MY WRITING SKILLS (if you look at the stuff above you can probably easily see what I mean) ... Suuuure, I'm all excited about the future, I'm semi-casual since it's a blog post and not a formal paper, etc etc, but my gosh, I'm all over the place with my thoughts so some of the skills I need to make more solid are exactly in written English - my enthusiasm may be able to entertain a live crowd but I wonder how well it's expressed in this post - perhaps you readers can let me know (hint hint: please comment if you've gotten this far into reading this random post-midnight ramble)
• Work on my graphics skills - Yep, I can edit a great video for anyone but I can't brag nearly as much when it comes to making things from scratch in Photoshop. I only know how to manipulate stuff, I'd love to be able to create stunning visuals as the situation calls for such.
• Make sure that any web-design focused class I take is directly applied in the building of my portfolio website - I have full intent to never send another .DOC or .PDF resume. EVER. I'd like people to see something I've created and then download the .DOC or .PDF as they've already seen a product of mine - if they can't be bothered to check the website or don't understand its significance chances are I wouldn't wish to be working for such an employer anyway so I'm technically filtering them just as much as they're filtering me.

So in short, I've got quite a bit on my TODO list but I'm pretty thrilled about it all - Grad school's made Undergrad feel like high school felt when I became an Undergrad. Some hard work to come but SO worth it!

Now listening to:

This is probably a part of the reason for "bad" English out there...

So there I was, wasting time ... Let me start over - there I was, being very productive on Digg and as I looked at the comments I couldn't help but to recall the class discussion about the effects technology's had on the English language worldwide - Digg is a website with users from all over the world and if you look at how they communicate it should become pretty clear where some of the "new forms" of English are springing up from. Multiply that by a few hundred huge websites that get at least as many visitors as well and imagine similar comments on each and there you have it - the answer on why/how English has morphed due to the Internet. Also worth noticing is the fact that the ONE person who tried to "correct" the mistake got voted down for his foolish attempt.

And just in case you're curious what the actual "story" being discussed was - below is the picture that was in the link:

There may still be some hope left for CNN...

As far as the competition for global television goes, anyway - a friend of mine posted a link to the CNN video I'm embedding below in his Facebook status update, while asking "Why do we not see more of this kind of reporting in our media?"


That is a very good question! I'm not sure if I even have a proper answer for it but I could instantly relate the video to a book I had just finished reading sections of - English Next. It's a great read if you're wondering what the heck Global English may mean or where the world is headed (seriously!) The book is FREE and well worth checking out:

Official website/Link to free PDF version of the book

There is a segment on the role of News Media and it specifies that:

Two trends are apparent in international news: more global channels in English and new rival channels in other world languages.

Well, I'd say the video's a fine example of the first trend.

That aside, I've apparently been a guinea pig/test subject for all 5 different "models" of learning English, they'd just change with every teacher I've ever had in my life - from the "English as a foreign language" model (designed to produce failure, according to the book's author... There's some great news!) to the much more dynamic CLIL model (Content and language integrated learning) it seems like I've had every model in-between applied on me at some stage in my life or another (including trying to learn English back when I was still going to kindergarten).

And now for your entertainment:

The path I've chosen to my Master's degree

As soon as I found out I had been accepted into the New Media Studies program @ DePaul I rushed to figure out what classes I'd likely take as a part of my path towards a Master's degree... and to think, years ago the only excitement around classes distribution consisted of finding out if my high school buddy and I shared any... Back then I don't think I'd possibly be excited about the classes I am taking ... how I've changed since then!

Well, this is the draft version of what I'll be taking, very much in line with some of the job skills I was exploring in my previous "job-exploration" post - things may change a bit but I can't wait to get going with some of these... then again, once I remember all the projects I'm currently involved with, I suppose I could wait a little bit before taking on anything else ...

How effective can Media be in the delivery of a message

After reading Curran, Gurevitch, and Woollacott's "The Study of the Media: Theoretical Approaches" I couldn't help but look back on my Persuasion class, back in the days when I was a care-free Undergrad student. Back then we had touched on ways in which the media can get people to see things one way or another. From the simplicty of a way in which a picture is framed or a video is edited to the complexity a series of messages on print media, radio and TV can have on an entire coutry, we'd examined all of that and what I've come to realize is that I disagreed on the media's ability to be comparable to mind control back them and I still disagree with that now. It can have some sort of influence, that's for sure, and I am also certain that there's a specific proportion between the subject's education level and their susceptability to media.

Still, every time video games or movies or music gets blamed for some terrible event I can't help but to roll my eyes. Some of the footage that makes it in the TV newscasts can be more brutal than any song or movie or game and it still gets approved to be broadcast on national television. Beyond that, things some people have happening in their lives can be way more traumatic than the worst thing they ever read or see or play. Is it, then, that their actions are a direct result of the media they were exposed to? I don't think so. I may be wrong, but I really don't think so.

How a person judges what to do in life is a direct result of who they look up, who they have as role model. I think that when people have a lack of great family and friends in their childhood they may chose to have a media-based role model. That's when all hell breaks lose. Therefore, I am considering myself lucky to have a wonderful family and friends and I go on playing my violent videogames and I go on watching my gory movies and I go on listening to my violent music ... and people go on asking me how come I'm always so smiley - I've found my outlets in all these things so that when I'm on the street or at work I maintain that good mood ... in part, thanks to the wonderful media I've decided to be involved with during my free time (or, you know, whenever I make some free time).

EDIT/UPDATE: One last thing I just remembered ... what if the Media is trying to do some subliminal messaging? Hmmmm... These of you who know me know I tend to steer clear of politics for the most part but just check out this clip from FOX:

So I got a job offer from Microsoft...

Well, not exactly, more like a notification of opportunity - I was contacted by a certain gentleman from the Microsoft Macintosh [bet you never imagined seeing these 2 names connected like that] Business Unit. I'm a part of Apple's Developer Connection [an ADC student developer] and apparently when they asked me to fill out my skills on their website they made me a resume that caught the attention of Microsoft (Thanks Apple! :-P).

The title of the position -> Software Development Engineer in Test. How does that relate to what I'm currently doing? Well, aside from my Pro seminar in New Media Studies I am taking a Human Computer Interaction class - Usability Engineering. I LOVE that class, the whole idea of getting involved in the creation of intuitive user interfaces just seems like something I would love to be more involved with for a long time to come. It helps that I have a few friends who are already in that field too.

I've got much respect for both Apple and Microsoft, each company has pulled off quite a bit. This post is supposed to focus on the skills required for positions that interest me so let's focus on that side of things for a bit.

This role [at Microsoft] would consist of the following key responsibilities:

• Working on a feature crew with your program manager and developer counterparts, providing direct input on the quality and testability of feature specs and design documents
• Creating test plans and all test collateral (test cases, test files, etc) for features
• Creating and maintaining test automation
• Owning and communicating the status and quality of your assigned features
• Gathering and responding to customer input on your assigned features

Requirements:

• strong communication and organizational skills
• test planning
• writing and maintaining automation scripts that yield measurable results
• passion for the customer and technology
• a self-critical and accountable work approach
• project management
• demonstrated ability to function autonomously and be successful in the face of rapid change
• close communication with Development and Program Management counterparts.

A BS degree in Computer Science or related field is preferred. Experience with Microsoft Office products, Mac OS X, AppleScript, Visual Basic, and white box testing techniques would be a plus.

So what other positions could I possibly strive to reach in the future (with my current focus on New Media)? I suppose I could strive to become a "Manager of New Media." The skills required for that kind of a position go sort of like so:

• At least 3 years experience in web(not print) design and graphics
• At least 2 years experience withe-commerce web sites
• Expertise in web standards,semantics, accessibility, usability, browser limitations
• Ability to hand code XHTML, CSS(expert) (Use of WYSIWYG tool is acceptable but not needed)
• PHP (beginner to intermediate level)
• Flash and ActionScript(intermediate to expert level)
• Experience designing subscriber-basedemails and understanding their challenges
• Optimization of web graphics(expert)
• High level of proficiency in Photoshop, Fireworks, and/or Illustrator
• Experience integrating front-end web content with back-end code such as PHP or ASP
• Preference will be given to candidates who have:
• Experience with Smarty templates
• Familiarity with InDesign
• Familiarity with audio/video editing and output for various media
• Familiarity with content management systems and blogs
• Experience with intranet designand management
• Familiarity with AJAX / DOM Scripting / Unobtrusive Javascript(intermediate level)
• Familiarity with MySQL (beginner level)
• Familiarity with version control
• Comfort working in both Mac and PC environments
• Familiarity with QA processes
• Familiarity with Zimbra
• Experience with X-Cart
• Experience working with social networking sites and web communities\

In case you're wondering ... yes, these are just the "essentials" for that sort of a job, looking at a "New Media guru" (as opposed to a manager position) the list shortens to:

• Bachelors degree from accredited university
• Experience in a digital design or production capacity for an online marketing or related digital communications shop
• A thorough understanding of various online marketing techniques
• The ability to handle multiple projects concurrently
• Intermediate to expert knowledge of Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop, Adobe Creative Suite, etc.
• Thorough understanding of at least two of the following: HTML, Cold Fusion, PHP, .NET
• Knowledge of CSS and XML techniques and programming a plus
• Experience with SEO, Online Marketing, Social Media, Online PR (traditional and citizen driven), eLearning
• Online portfolio that demonstrates creative design and execution skills across media - good to know, already working on one...

Looking above, that's a huge list of bulletpoints (pointing to all sorts of different skills). First I need to nail down exactly where I am going in my future career because that Usability Engineering class is really making me consider that direction but then there are still plenty of skills I need to brush up on and a few that I have yet to accquire.