Monday, April 23, 2012

Final Assignment

     I have evolved a great deal in fourteen weeks. Whether it is my overall length of my writing, or the content that I put into my writings I have improved. This class has changed my outlook and my landscape of writing completely. I am not trying to write for a passing grade, like I did in high school. I am writing for myself now and I enjoy the essence of writing. I know that when I graduate and I reflect on my classes that this class was my cornerstone for all of my work. I say that because I will use this knowledge in not only English classes but in other classes as well.

     The Everywhereist was my best piece of writing in the class. I feel like that I have accomplished most of the goals that I stated in my final assessment. I brainstormed for this assignment. Not only in my ideas for The Everywhereist but for the assignment its self. I made several rough drafts for this paper. I spent time playing around with different ways to word my post because I wanted it to be perfect. I revised my writing to the best of my ability in this post because like I said I wanted it to be perfect. This is something that I am improving on the more that I write. Revision is something that I needed to improve in, and I believe that I am improving. I tried to integrate and document the author's ideas into my post. I also tried to blend both of our ideas together.

     I believe that I learned to consider my role as a writer in not just one post. At the beginning of the course I was writing as a student. Now I am writing to be more of a contributor to the writing world.  My best post to show how I've changed is Headaches. In this post I talk about the headache of having to choose the perfect blog for my project. I was writing to everyone that wanted to know about the top blogs not just to my class. I still had areas to improve on in this post, but for the most part I liked it.

     My Greatest Hits CD is what I used my thesis technique. I researched all my material and compiled it together. It was a little difficult to go through all the years the band that I did to find all the information. I supported my thesis with facts and could use sources too support my facts. In The Everywhereist I also used a thesis technique to compile facts and listed my sources to accredit my facts. I also have used the thesis technique on other posts but not to the degree I did on these two posts.

     I plan to improve on my typos and  fix my proofreading errors. I have greatly improved on many of the skills required to proofread I'm just not one-hundred percent yet. I know that I will be very soon because this class has taught me so many different ways to proofread. This class has also given me resources to improve my writing. Without these resources I would not have improved as much as I have.

     To conclude, I have had a wonderful experience in this class and look towards the future. This class was an amazing way to improve my ability as a writer. I have improved my writing techniques ten-fold all because of this single class. I appreciate how this class allowed us to progress at our own pace. As this class comes to end I know that I have evolved as a writer.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Chipmunkd'

     This week I decided to chipmunk Adele. I don't necessarily listen to her music but hey she won a lot of Grammy's this year so I used her voice. She has a very unique voice, and it is hard to capture her pitch and raise the level. I used my iPad app DJay to make this remake of "Set Fire to the Rain." I also at the time of the make using my speakers not my laptop so when I loaded the song to SoundCloud it peaked. What I mean by peaked is that the sound bogs and makes a hissing sound. I am sorry Adele- Set Fire tothe Rain (Dance Mix)but I will but a remastered version up soon. Hope you enjoy and thanks for listening! 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Splash the Color!

      I chose this week to do splash the color. The requirement for this project is to strip all color from a certain picture then color a key point in the picture. In my picture below I chose my key point as the sky. The sky in this picture makes this picture. The assignment is unique in the fact that you have to use editing software to get to your finished product. The reason why I thought it was unique was because Photoshop software is second nature to me. I recommend this software to anyone and everyone that would like to do this assignment. It is a challenge if you do not know anything about photo editing. If you do this assignment I strongly recommend youtubing color splashing technique. It is a very easy task to wrap your head around. Hope you enjoy my picture!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Greatest Hits CD

     I chose to do my first DS106 on music and design. This project was actually a whole lot harder than it looks. I had to do a bit of researching and a lot of "musical research" which I enjoyed. My project is on The All-American Rejects, one of the more consistent bands of the decade. They are also one of the only 10 plus year bands without a greatest hits album to date. This project was a joy and I recommend it to everyone who enjoys music.



                                                               CD COVER

    

Track List
  1. Dirty Little Secret-(3:13)
  2. Swing Swing-(3:52)
  3. Gives You Hell-(3:33)
  4. Move Along-(3:58)
  5. Stab My Back-(3:09)
  6. Night Drive-(3:23)
  7. It Ends Tonight-(4:04)
  8. Top of the World-(3:26)
  9. Fallin' Apart-(3:27)
  10. I Wanna-(3:29)
  11. Real World-(4:03)
  12. Change Your Mind-(3:38)
  13. Can't Take It-(2:52)
  14. Straitjacket Feeling-(3:37)
  15. Back To Me-(4:31)
  16. Mona Lisa (When the World Comes Down)-(3:15)
  17. The Last Song-(5:00)

         
                                      BIO


 
     The All-American Rejects are a pop punk that was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999. The band was formed by bassist/lead vocals Tyson Ritter and guitarist/keyboard/programmer Nick Wheeler. The band later added guitarist Mike Kennerty and drummer Chris Gaylor to replace Tim Campbell as main band members. The bands clam-to-fame was in 2003 with the song “Swing, Swing.” The song was an international hit, and also was placed in other media outlets. The band released their breakout album after their self titled album. The album “Move Along” soon went gold showing the true potential of the band. After touring on Van's Warped Tour they released “When the World Comes Down” which derived from a lyric in the hit song Mona Lisa (When the World Comes Down.) The band also had similar success with the hit song being “Gives You Hell” being the anchor for the album. In late march TAAR released “Kids in the Street” which looks to have a promising future.


CD LABEL







Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Ultimate Illusion

     Optical illusions are an amazing, and I shall do them. This assignment is using a still photo to make something super huge look palm-like using distance. The creator on DS106 used the Washington Monument as her illusion. The monument that I am using is the Houston Cole Library. I have not quite figured out my angle, but that will all be sorted out later.

     The reason why I have chosen to do this assignment is because it peaked my interest when I was on the website. I love optical illusions and I love photography. I also think that this idea is very clever in the fact that her idea has been used before, but not as an assignment. I believe that I will succeed in this assignment because of my interests. I also know that my abstract thinking methods will allow be to but a little extra on the piece.

     DS106 is a very great learning medium. The idea of user based assignment is a great idea. I hope that one day DS106 is a course offered at every university. I know that my class will enjoy using the website as a learning tool. As our class continues using this learning bridge will see the creativity in classmates. Another reason why DS106 is a great method is that all sorts of majors can use DS106 as a teaching method.

     As a film production major I thrive for creative endeavors. Being able to use my abilities and strengths to show people what I can do is my kind of class. Also this class can help my weaknesses become stronger. JSU's film department should have a class based off of this course in my opinion. Not just DS106 based, but most of the class should be based upon the site.

     In conclusion, I urge everyone to do your best while we have the opportunity to excel in this course and your assignment. I know that we can do an amazing job on our assignment. I also urge you not to do just one assignment but to keep working. You never know who will see your work or admire it. I know that this can also help you improve in many other subjects not just English. So get out there and work already!     

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Politics


      Politics are a basic necessity to run a country. Without politics you would at its base have an anti-democratic dictatorship. From town to world level politic campaigns are happening everyday. Politics help balance the structure of government. Politics also involves a certain type of person. Politics are a major part of the today's government.

      Without politics our government would be chaos without it's structure. Without our rules in place our government would more than likely have people serving our country on Capital Hill doing the same crap that did not get them re-elected. Our terms for service would be out the window. Just think Bill Clinton might still be president with Al Gore down his back. Even after the global warming scandal Gore would probably still be taking tax payer money, thus causing an even greater hole for us to dig out of. Just be glad that USA has a base structure and we are not like a third world country.

      The type of person politics involve is a rare one. Even though they show compassion to certain subjects they still have to be made of stone. There will always be an important matter that will not be on their agenda. Your average politician has probably been presented with the KONY 2012 movement last year or the year before. I know that I saw the Invisible Children before it became an internet phenomenon. The UN and other countries could have resolved this matter way before it became huge. The thing that comes back to me is the way that other politicans attack each other. Commercials I think are a very tasteless way of trying to win a position. They attack their opponent because they are republican and voted the same as Obama. I mean come on politicians consult the people that they are voting for before they vote it. People can just blur the truth from peoples eyes.

      After all politicians are people and people deserve respect. They are the same as you and me except with the power of government. As long as there is something to be governed there will be politics. Like or dislike they are part of being an American. One of our many freedoms that our great country gives us. So get out there and get involved with the lie fest which is politics!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Headaches

     Just to start off I would like to state that there are millions of great blogs out there. Continuing on that note I would like to point out that it is hard to find the right one to show my appreciation to. There has been a significant amount of research being applied to my project. I have read many blogs trying to pinpoint the blog I want to showcase in my project. I know that other people in the class are having difficulties trying to find the blog that they want to use. I would like to just find one that meets all my criteria for my project. I would love to have one that I could write for days about. I want to find a blog that I can subscribe to and enjoy reading on a daily basis.

     Another problem that I am having problems with is plagiarism. I do not want to accidentally plagiarize and get a zero. I do have a grasp understanding on what's my idea and not my idea.I know that even if its partly my idea I have to give credit where credit is due. I am very cautious when it comes to my writing I do not want to steal anyone person's ideas. I mean you would not steal their personal belongings? Why steal their ideas? Like we have discussed in class, it is a crime to plagiarize.  Many people do not comprehend plagiarism or do not want to follow its rules. Those are the people who will fail or get kicked out.

     I know that everyone will be able to pass this project because we all are capable of the work. I know that the project is just basically research. If you do your research then you will be able to finish you work. Your ideas will gather from doing the base work. I have had ideas swirl since I have read the blog that I am researching. I know that I can do this project, and I know that I will be able to ace it as well.