Week of 3/2 Blog Post: Podcasting

This week I was collecting examples of podcasts. I actually have four examples that I would like to share.

The first one is Dr. Fitness and the Fat Guy. This is an audio podcast. The hosts have an interesting banter that keeps it from becoming monotonous. I found this because I was searching for a Hungry Girl podcast. Lisa Lillien (Hungry Girl) appeared on the podcast that I chose. It is, however, a longer podcast, so it requires commitment from the listener. At this length the podcast must be packed with useful and entertaining information to retain the audience and make them come back for more. I admit that my attention started wandering long before I got to the Lisa Lillien portion. This one is much like a morning radio show, starts out entertaining and then becomes irritating.

The second one is Brain Stuff "How can I gain pounds during the day and lose them at night?" This podcast is also an audio podcast. It is much shorter than the first one is provided interesting information. The host invites you to send him a message to ask questions, thereby providing interaction.

The third one is a video podcast from Cook's Illustrated called "Perfecting Pear Crisp". It shows the viewer how to make a pear crisp. The video is well shot, and the speaker speaks clearly, although rather quickly. The length is excellent, and the pear crisp catches my interest because it looks delicious. They also issue an invitation to visit their homepage to learn more.

The fourth one is also a video podcast. This one is from Scientific American and is called "The Geysers of Enceladus". The videography of this podcast is amazing. The voice is rather quiet, but it fits in with the theme of the video. It does not issue and invitation, but it does show the branding at the end.

I found my podcasts by searching within iTunes; the links will direct you to the main page for each group's podcasts. I enjoyed vieiwing th podcasts. I have specific interests which probably show in my choices.

Week of 2/23 Blog Post

Question: Think about the third paragraph on page 212 as you work in your blog this week: "Action is the highest form of thought." What does this mean? It might mean something from a writer's perspective, from a user's perspective, and from a student's perspective.

Meadows writes,

Action is the highest form of thought. This is to say that we really understand something only when we've done it. It's one thing to espouse that interactive narrative is a new art form or that it has new capabilities or that it even exists in the the first place, but it's certainly a different issue to build it.

When I read the only the first line of this paragraph, I can see that it could be a source of conflict or disagreement. Thought can occur without action and action can occur without thought. One would think that pure thought would be the highest form of thought. However when I read the explanation "we really understand something only when we've done it," I can see where he's coming from. We have an ongoing dispute with our management that they need to allot time to train us on new practices, not just hand out documentation and say "Read this on your own time," while archiving all new information by date or posting number, never deleting old information that is no longer valid, and providing an almost useless index. We also complain that the documentation is poorly prepared and confusing; they ask us why we complain about a piece of documentation sometimes months after it is released. Here's where it relates to Meadows, even though my co-workers and I read the documentation as soon after we receive it as possible, we sometimes do not need to use it until a month or more later. Then we have to remember what we read or find it again and try to apply it. Only when we try to apply it, do we realize how bad the thought that went into it truly was. We don't understand it or remember it until we do it. I think that this is really what Meadow's is saying here. Not that action is better than thought, but that we may not understand something unless we do it. I can think that I understand a procedure, but until I do it, I'm not sure. I can think that I can understand loss, hope, or fear, but until I experience them, I truly don't. I can think that I understand what makes a website interactive, but until I build mine and see my audience react, I won't fully understand it.

Week of 2/16 Blog Post

This week I am supposed to focus and reflect on my previous blog posts and perhaps add to them. I am choosing to do this in the form of a new blog post. I’m a rebel, I know.

My first blog post was simply an introduction. I have nothing really to add to that.

In my week of 1/19 blog post, I discussed Interaction and my struggle to decide on a website topic. As I posted later, I have decided on a webpage and it is taking form at http://happyhealthyjessica.com. I have shown it to the class twice now, and I am working to incorporate many of the suggestions. I am also working on putting together the things that I need for my multimedia component. Unfortunately, some of the pictures have been difficult to find. I am imagining a movie/slideshow moving among pictures of me at different stages. I hope that I can bring my vision to life. I believe that I have created interaction by including two blogs on my site. Although, no comments have been posted, I am hopeful that someone will read them sometime.

In my week of 1/26 blog post, I wrote about communication, transparency, and participation. My personal website is all about communication and transparency, and I hope there will be some participation. My transparency is by necessity limited. My husband does not want me to include my last name anywhere on the webpage to protect our privacy.

My week of 2/2 blog post was about websites that I find to be good examples of what I want to do with my homepage. Those examples still stand. I hope to get at least partially there.

In my week of 2/9 post, I talked about Meadows three principles. I am still working on how to incorporate those principles into my homepage.

I have shown my homepage twice and have had lots of feedback. I am hoping that this week, I will get to see more of my classmates’ pages. I want to pirate some good ideas.

Podcasts

I was reviewing the podcasts from last year's contest, and I was surprised by the poor resolution of student podcasts on my screen; I have a really nice screen. My husband pointed out that the podcasts were designed for an ipod and perhaps the resolution is poor because of that. The faculty versions had better resolution of the main screen; perhaps they remembered that podcasts can be shown not only on the ipod screen but also on the computer screen. Did anyone look at them on ipods?

Week of 2/9 Blog Post

Question: Meadows lists three principles of interaction (page 39). How do these three principles relate to the projects you're working on for class? Can you trace, for instance, oberservation > exploration > modification > reciprocal change (page 44) in your work?

The three principles of interaction according to Meadows are as follows:

1. Input/Output
2. Inside/Outside
3. Open/Closed

He states, "The first principle, principle of Input/Output, says that input should create output and output should create input. It's the interaction cycle's ability to add information that defines the interaction's quality." Obviously, Meadows missed the part about not using the word that one is trying to define in the definition; however, it is clear that this interaction principle means that when the user/reader does something, makes a choice on the screen, follows a link, or comments on a blog post, the user/reader should get some kind of response, a change in the screen, navigation to the linked page, or appearance of their comment on the blog or even a reply by the blogger. For my homepage, I want the user to be able to choose from the menu at top to move between appropriate pages, to be able to click a links and follow it to my source or to a page with information that I found to be useful, and to make comments on my blog. I would also like to eventually incorporate mouse-over images and some type of animated sequence on the front page. I have an image in my head but I have yet to decide how this will work. For my artist's page, I would like to use mouse-over images of her art. The mouse-over would bring up a detailed image of the collection or differing collection images as the button is passed over. I am still thinking about that as well.

For Inside/Outside, Meadows states, "'Inside-outside' refers to the relationship of two sorts of interaction. I also call this 'inside-the-skull' and 'outside-the-skull' interactivity." He then goes on to define inside the skull interactivity as "a process of extending what the user already knows. It is the world of the reader's imagination." He defines outside-the-skull interactivity as an interaction "based on what we are experiencing on an empirical, or experiential, level." Meadows implies that the designer must have a balance between these components, focusing two narrowly on one or the other limits the design and the interaction. The physical components of a website are the appearance, the art, the moving bits and pieces, the links, etc. These are all outside-the-skull pieces, and these are the pieces that are easiest on which to focus. Inside-the-skull elements are more difficult to accomplish. They are metaphor and rely on the creator of the page understanding the audience, what the user will grasp, what will make them think, and what will create the subtle nuances desired. Both parts are difficult for me because I am not very well versed in website building, but I have to remember to not focus so strongly on the technical that I forget to include the emotional in my own page and in the artist's page. Weight loss is an emotional subject and a homepage dedicated to that theme must, by default, pull on that emotion. It cannot be sterile. Art is emotional; the buyer will buy a piece of art because that art speaks to them on an emotional level. To include that emotion, the artist will need to provide us with information about her reasons for creating that piece in that manner.

Meadows defines the third principle by stating, "The third principle, Open/Closed, says that the system should get better the more it's used." He also says, "Open systems are more complicated, less predictable, and more interesting than closed systems...But what remains the most unpredictable, independent, and captivating of all interactions is other people. There is no predicting the behavior with certainty, but there is almost always a context that defines the response." For my homepage, the open system will be accomplished by the blogs incorporated on my homepage and perhaps by a contact form for suggestions for additional content, although the second is still in the imagination phase and may never come to pass. For the artist's page, the open system may be more difficult to achieve and will depend on what our artist is willing to include. Would she be willing to have a blog, a contact form, something else? That is a question for the client. Some method of contacting the artist at least for purchasing information must be included on the page.