Week 14: Google Maps

View Living On campus in a larger map

I decided to make a map for students who end up living on the San Francisco campus. When I first lived on campus, my freshmen year, I did not know where the closet stores where, or what was the best way to get there. I wanted to show new incoming students who would live on campus some of the sites that are around and the different options for transportation. I found it best that for walking distance I would stick to one way of getting there so it wouldn't confuse the viewer. Over the years I found ways to make trips faster. I like that I was able to use google maps to illustrate them, google maps has amazing details and can show you different angles so you can see it better. Google maps has great images, and details, it is really helpful for projects like this one where you want to plan trips.

The difference between google maps and a timeline is that in google maps you plan trips, and illustrate the different ways you can get there. There are also bus icons and restaurants as well as other sites icons that are in the area. Google maps as well as most maps focus on direction and sites, not really time. A Timeline, is a timeline that you tell a story by which you are addressing time. You can show where you were and what time, but there is no map to show that. There are other ways you can show where or how to get there with images and a good detail description, but it would take long for you to make a time map using one or the other.

Dupity

April 29, 2010 My Thursday

My Thursday APril 29, 2010 on Dipity.

Before I did my own timeline I went and browsed other
timelines on the site. The home page before you sign
in, shows you the daily updated news, followed by
other news. Then I started to have find interest with
it, research some of my favorite artist, their life timelines,
their career time lines, etc. They even have
TIMETUBE, here is an example of how someone
gathered all the videos related to "Chocolate Rain"
and put them all into one timeline. Chocholate Rain .
I really like it, it gives you all the information that y
ou would like to find in videos in one location.
If i were to go to youtube and look for one
artist videos it might take sometime, but when
I go to DIPITY someone already did it for
me. I did another search, Cristiano Ronaldo
on TIMETUBE, and there were videos from
ads to games he played in.

It was hard knowing what to make a timeline
about, I never keep track of the events that
occur in my life, not even a whole day. When
deciding on what to make my timeline on I
wanted to make it on an artist whose information
was already out there online, it would be
easy for me to find and put together. I started
with Cristiano Ronaldo, but it was difficult,
and I needed a lot more time. I think I will
do one for him in the future but for the 1st
time, I did a simple one about my day. I
liked it. I had fun and I organized the
images in a way that I was able to tell a story.

Future of social networking

Part 4. Describe your idea(s) about the future of digital social networking services:

I know that in a few years I will be able to change some of the dynamics of the world of networking. Everyday I see creations on the internet, how people play with flash and try to contribute images and music together. I think that once a few year have past what will change in the social networks will be the following, better security, more applications that will help people use their phones, more icons to simplify navigation on the page, more features and even more views on what is happening around us for example in the media and current events.

To much change can't always be that great. For the past years, we see that there are new sites being added and to the one network we join there are new functions and icons that we can enjoy a bit more. A lot of sites will have similar ideas so the updates will continue. I was happy using myspace but with all the changes that they were doing I moved away to something more simple like facebook. There can't be so many changes happening because it will draw away the user. I have notice that facebook has been changing a lot of its layout and I tolerate it just because I haven't found another network that everyone uses. There are other accounts like twitter which allows you to update your status as many times as you want but I don't like being the only person on my page, I like to visit others persons page and be able to see their news pics, and be able to comment on them, or be able to post a video or song on. I have given twitter a try but so far it has its limits.

I do believe that more sites will use images, as well as many other ways to communicate with other people globally. There will more all sorts of sites for everyone, to have one site be focus on all of the functions that everyone asks can get tacky. everyone has different personalities and likes and I think that in the future there will be a lot more sites, networks with a lot more to offer.

Design Analysis of Livemocha

The site that I joined is Livemocha. Livemocha is a language learning site. They offer lesson plans which include over 160 hours of beginner to intermediate level content. From everyday conversation to reading and writing. The site allows us to learn and teach from other members from all over the world. It is a global community.

This is my home page. I have an image and made up name :]
It list the languages I want to learn, and the languages that I do know along with the level of how much I know the language. My recent activity shows what I have done so far, I have started the Italian 101 course.
If you scroll down you will see the list of friends that I have (so far none) and next to it a list of people I will find interested and people I might be able to connect to.

There are no events, or lounges that users can go to interact, I did went around to look, and the closets to interacting with a large number of users online was by clicking on the top tab that says SHARE. It shows the submissions from other people, they add their work and others can correct them and help them. There are exercises that one can do and others can view to see how they do.

 

I find this a very good learning site, the course are very fun and efficient. 

You learn how to pronounce the words, read and write it. To the side it gives you tips and at the bottom it shows you how to read it. I really like this site to learn but as a way to interact with others, for me it hasn't gone anywhere. I would have to add other users and talk. I think that those who really want to learn will learn, there are a lot of resources available on the site. There is the option open for you to know others, but its mainly focus on learning, and not so much on the interactive part of others. I will continue to see how I do in this site and see how I can interact and use that to my advantage to learn to speak a new language.

Week 11 Social Networking

Part 1: 
 The 1st time I was involve interacting online was when I was about 12 or 13 years old. My dad had installed AOL and slowly I began with a simple email account that soon emerged into  chat. I entered chatting groups online and when to forums. I do not use aol as much anymore, I began with aol, then yahoo, then eventually I stopped chatting online. I prefer to text or to write on my friends facebook walls. I now use Facebook the most, in high school it was all about myspace, I loved how I had the freedom to change my background, add music, cartoons, and different gifs.

I love going online to see what other accounts have to offer, I have different accounts from facebook, myspace, plurk, youtube, photobucket, tagged, hotmail, and many other ones. But Facebook is the one I interact with everyone almost everyday. The usernames are almost all alike, as the years go by I go on something new and I can manage by using a similar or the same user name.

Part 2:
I joined Livemocha :] A language learning site.

Part 4: Reseach Design

Design Questions:
1. 

At the top of the screen, there are a listing of links in words that can take you to see your neighbors, to invite your friends, check your settings,  there is a help link and a link that can take you to buy Yoville money. Its straight forward and simple, I think its "professional", were you can change the settings, and seek help for the overall games, asking question etc.

2. The icons that are on the game are very interactive and helpful. I like how the game have images to represent a certain location or item that you need. At the bottom of the screen you can see your friends avatars and click on them to visit them or to send them a message. Its cute, creative and and fun to look at in a playful kinda of way.

3. The colors are very vibrant and digital. The listing of colors are endless, nothing is really dimmed at all. Yoville is designed to show detailed, be able to move around from place to place with no problem. The avatars are small and don't take much space from the screen, it doesn't seem human its really cartoony and animated.  The sounds that I've heard are at the  events if the host has any and outside of our apartment complex, but I rarely hear anything.

4. I have to continue going to my job at the factory every 6-7 hours to get rewarded a good 200 bucks. The more you take pictures the more points you get rewarded and move up on the levels. If you dance, play, or interact in any way with other avatar or buy items you get points on your level bar.

5. The only thing that appears to be real is the communication I'm given through chat. Everything seems to be to be a game online where you control this one avatar, but by being able to chat and see what others are writing gives you the feeling that someone in some part of the world is there with you online. You can't fly, or see things from a 3D perspective everything is really 2D.

6. I was able to chat with this one person, he became very social and interested to know me behind my avatar. It felt like middle school all over again. Where we exchanged A/S/L information (Age/sex/location)I don't like to chat with other people online because I don't know them, I don't know their interests for chatting with me. When I look at the guys account I find that hes married.

7. My avatar can exchange her items with another avatar. She works at the factory and goes fishing, and she shops.

8. I like to attend the events and decorate my apartment. Its kinda hard to make money but i manage to buy a few items. 

9. When you put the arrow head over an object, the object will generally glow and will function when its clicked and if the object doesn't then it there's nothing that it can do.

 

10. There is no story to follow, you're life is what you make of it. When reading the HOH-Angency article, on page 9, aside from describing it as a story telling game, what I encounter within the world did have confusion, playing yoville, I was confused for the most part, with the whole money issue, and then I had to risk my shyness online through chatting with strangers. As for the money part, If i used all my money I had to make money for items not to survive, I didn't have to feed my avatar or clean it. Whether i made money or not didn't affect my avatar.

Part 3: Attend a social event

PART 3: Attend a social event and blog about it

 

The events are hosted by other players in yoville. There a mostly house parties, the events are made by a person and are put on the list of events that everyone who are in the online can see. I really like how some of the events were really decorated by the person, the number of events that I went to were like the picture above, in a home.  There wasn't any inappropriate conversations, it was people getting to know others, talking about yoville, asking for items to trade with, given complements on ones clothes etc. 

The second event I went to was called "lady's night out" 

I like how the girl decorated her house. The floor was heart red covered carpet and the walls were red hearts. The Windows were of starry night images, and the girl who was hosting the even had hip music. I didn't know that the room was for ladies only, there were Bisexuals and lesbians. There were a variety of different people from around the world, there was a girl from Indonesia, Mexico, California, and even India.

I think that the purpose for having these events is to have people from other parts of the world get together and build friendships. We chat and we can dance and show emotions through our virtual avatar. By clicking on others avatars you can play games with them like Tic Tac Toe, visit they're home, send them a message, add them as friends, etc. 

 

I had to take pictures with my phone because i can only take up to 3 pictures at a time and then I'm given a time limit till i can take more. I had to wait from 20minutes to 40 minutes to be able to take pictures.