Week 5: Clear

Multimedia use is now simply becoming a standard tool in many industries. I understand this well as a student studying journalism. The new rule of the day: when posting content online, use multimedia tools. Those who don't, are losing an audience.

This being the case, I am not surprised to find out that the same concepts are being used for presentations. Furthermore, no one in higher education should be surprised: since my first day of classes in 2007, any presentation has required links, video, audio, or images along with or in place of text. After all, what is the point of PowerPoint? If we didn't require these tools, we would still be using projectors and pieces of paper, right?

One thing that I did notice was missing, however, was interactive content. Things like polls, FAQs, animated maps, 3D tours, etc. to further their understanding. I do agree, it doesn't have as much place in a presentation, but under the right circumstances it could be an amazing addition. After all, it is the future of multimedia!

Here is a link to the journalism 2.0 blog, in case you are curious as too how multimedia affects journalism. Also, a full, free .pdf can be found here for the book of the same name.

( photo from http://www.kcnn.org/resources/journalism_20/) 

Chris Baldwin vs. The World: My Avatar Creation Experience.

In creating my online avatar, I sought an avatar editor that fit my tastes and attitude. Eventually, I found the Scott pilgrim Vs. The World avatar editor, a promotional tool on the movie's web site. And though I'm no lover of Hollywood promotional tools, I do have a deep affinity towards this movie in particular.

I love this movie and the graphic novels that inspired it due to the nature of its content. It takes place in a Toronto (Canada) around a group of video game/anime/music (typically 90's grunge/alternative and punk/post-punk rock) fan boys and band members. They encounter those they like to mock (hipsters, ultra-pretentious vegans, jocks, ignorant people, preps, etc.). Furthermore, it touches on themes of how such people relate to each other: sarcasm, apathy, friendly bullying, and the complexities of love in such small social circles. More than anything the movie brings the [video]gamer's imagination, culture and sense of humor to life in a mainstream medium.

Finally, back to my experience. I found this editor simple and fun. Obviously it is not a complex editor, but it does a good job customizing a character that fits in the manga-style medium of the property's original format. I really do look similar to myself, and at the same time similar to a typical type of character seen in the manga or video game; however, I'm sure this wouldn't work for just anyone, due to the aesthetic costume style being similar to some very specific American music subcultures. The only major problem I had with the editor was that I was forced to make my beard brown and my hair red when, in reality, it is the other way around. In the end, I give this editor "Epic" status even though the facial color scheme was a "Fail".

On a side note, "grad student" doesn't exactly fit, but it was the closest I could find.