Was anyone else surprised when they logged into blogger.com and the entire layout was changed? Naturally, I'm not in the mood to navigate through this new layout and setup to try to figure everything out. I'm sure once I get the hang of it, it'll be great, but for now it's annoying. -_-
Blogger wants us to connect with Google+...what a surprise! It seems that lately all the networking and social media sites are combining and pretty soon they're all going to be connected. This got me thinking - what's the difference between all these social networking sites and why do we have 400 accounts? What do we use everything for?
I broke it down into the most popular ones to try to figure out why I feel the need to keep an account and update/read/post regularly. What's every websites mission for its users?
Facebook: The giant King Kong of social networking. They did it right. While MySpace was popular as well, Facebook took over with its simple(r) layout and with its more professional/college users (usually...sometimes...when it first came out). Now it's used mostly for people to post pictures, keep in touch with high school friends and stalk others.
Twitter: It became popular not too long after Facebook, and while I was against it at first because I didn't see a purpose in it, I now love it. It's a great way to constantly let everyone know what you're thinking/doing/watching/wanting to do without being that annoying Facebook user updating their status all the time. And of course, it's still a great way to stalk friends, enemies and celebrities.
Tumblr: I never really caught onto the Tumblr trend. I feel like it's a lot of people sharing the same million pictures and quotes with one another. Not very useful for stalking.
Instagram: So happy there is finally an Android app for this lovely picture sharing program. I love the hipster filters that automatically make everyone believe they are a photographer. I love that for the most part, people share original pictures, and I love being able to actually see what others are doing/eating/watching/seeing, and not just read about it. Why Facebook bought it, I don't know. Also useful for feeling like you're close to celebrity crushes. Nice for stalking.
Foursquare: Never quite got into this one either, but I assume it's excellent for stalking. Who doesn't want to let everyone know where they are all the time?
What networking and social media sites do you guys use the most? For what? And what celebrity crush are you stalking? :]
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Class of 2012
There are small things that would make my life so much easier, such as being able to bring coffee into the FC building, learning how to fully function on only five or six hours of sleep and not having to do homework. Unfortunately, I have about a month left of school and none of these things are going to magically happen.
I'll be graduating in a month and spending the rest of the summer on the island before moving back to Vegas. I'm hoping to get an internship with the Make A Wish foundation over summer, because I haven't done an internship yet during college.
I think a lot of people really stress getting internships while in college before entering the 'real world,' because it's a way to get your foot in the door. It's a good way to secure a job after graduating or at least get the experience that other employers will look for. But throughout my four years at HPU, I've realized I don't really like journalism all that much anymore.
Designing pages, which I once loved, is now more of a chore than anything else and writing articles isn't fun for me anymore. I've grown to really love the hospitality industry, having worked in restaurants since my junior year of high school. I know that switching majors during college is very common, but I never switched majors because I didn't want the work that I've already done to go to waste. So I'll be graduating with a degree in journalism on May 17, and although I don't really know what I want to do with it, I'm glad I completed college and pretty soon my life won't revolve around homework. Except for the homework we have for Rachel's class, that's really fun.
I'll be graduating in a month and spending the rest of the summer on the island before moving back to Vegas. I'm hoping to get an internship with the Make A Wish foundation over summer, because I haven't done an internship yet during college.
I think a lot of people really stress getting internships while in college before entering the 'real world,' because it's a way to get your foot in the door. It's a good way to secure a job after graduating or at least get the experience that other employers will look for. But throughout my four years at HPU, I've realized I don't really like journalism all that much anymore.
Designing pages, which I once loved, is now more of a chore than anything else and writing articles isn't fun for me anymore. I've grown to really love the hospitality industry, having worked in restaurants since my junior year of high school. I know that switching majors during college is very common, but I never switched majors because I didn't want the work that I've already done to go to waste. So I'll be graduating with a degree in journalism on May 17, and although I don't really know what I want to do with it, I'm glad I completed college and pretty soon my life won't revolve around homework. Except for the homework we have for Rachel's class, that's really fun.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Please update to version 394.49588
The other morning my phone said I was able to update my software to the newer version and I pressed "accept," which I now believe was one of the worst ideas I've had in the past week (besides laying in the sun for three hours today without sunscreen...and procrastinating all my homework).
After my phone had updated, everything was completely different. My home page was different, the icons were different, the apps that came with the phone functioned differently. What used to slide sideways now went up and down, what used to go up and down now went diagonally and my alarm clock was nowhere to be found. It's been a few days and it's still frustrating trying to adjust to the new design of my phone. As far as I know, all it's done is confuse me and use more battery than it did before.
Facebook seems to be doing the same thing, constantly updating and upgrading and improving, adjusting and tweaking and making everything "easier." Well, I don't find the new Facebook Timeline easier and I don't find my phone any easier to use now. It's frustrating for consumers when the design is constantly changed on them, especially when it's so drastic.
However, when magazines or newspapers change their layout or designs, is it always such a drastic switch or do they do it gradually, switching a little bit at a time so the reader has time to take it in and get used to it, rather than being bombarded all at once with a completely new magazine that's now written backwards and Chinese with invisible ink that only appears on Tuesdays. I think this technique should be applied to electronic changes as well. Just because our generation is more tech savvy than we were ten or fifteen years ago doesn't mean we want everything constantly changed. It makes it difficult and I think I speak for the majority of us when I say I don't like things too difficult. At least tell me where the alarm clock on my phone is going to be hiding before you switch everything up on me.
After my phone had updated, everything was completely different. My home page was different, the icons were different, the apps that came with the phone functioned differently. What used to slide sideways now went up and down, what used to go up and down now went diagonally and my alarm clock was nowhere to be found. It's been a few days and it's still frustrating trying to adjust to the new design of my phone. As far as I know, all it's done is confuse me and use more battery than it did before.
Facebook seems to be doing the same thing, constantly updating and upgrading and improving, adjusting and tweaking and making everything "easier." Well, I don't find the new Facebook Timeline easier and I don't find my phone any easier to use now. It's frustrating for consumers when the design is constantly changed on them, especially when it's so drastic.
However, when magazines or newspapers change their layout or designs, is it always such a drastic switch or do they do it gradually, switching a little bit at a time so the reader has time to take it in and get used to it, rather than being bombarded all at once with a completely new magazine that's now written backwards and Chinese with invisible ink that only appears on Tuesdays. I think this technique should be applied to electronic changes as well. Just because our generation is more tech savvy than we were ten or fifteen years ago doesn't mean we want everything constantly changed. It makes it difficult and I think I speak for the majority of us when I say I don't like things too difficult. At least tell me where the alarm clock on my phone is going to be hiding before you switch everything up on me.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Spill your guts
I have a hard time updating my blog - I know. This happened with my other blog as well (myeuropeanloveaffair). It's really fun and exciting at first but then it starts to seem more like a chore. And since it's my personal blog, I should be able to update it whenever I want, however often I want, and my readers should be okay with it because I'm doing what I can.
Well, I realized that's not really how it works. Blogging is a lot like putting out a daily/weekly/monthly magazine. You have to stick with a routine and update frequently, otherwise people lose interest and will go somewhere else.
PostSecret. I would say it's one of my favourite blogs, but it's really hands-down my favourite blog I've ever read in my whole entire life. It's the only blog I check religiously. It's actually the only blog I read (besides the awesome blogs in my Electronic Journalism class).
Every Sunday, the blog is updated with new postcards people from all over the world have sent in, revealing their deepest, darkest, funniest, scariest secrets. For as long as I've been reading this blog, Frank Warren updates on time, every single week. I know when new secrets will come up and he never lets me down.
So what if he went with the it's-my-blog-I'll-update-whenever-I-want mentality? It'd be so frustrating, never knowing if you're going to have to wait a day or a month for new secrets. So I guess that's my reminder that while blogs are much more casual than newspapers and magazines (using first person, opinions, etc), writers still have to respect their readers.
Well, I realized that's not really how it works. Blogging is a lot like putting out a daily/weekly/monthly magazine. You have to stick with a routine and update frequently, otherwise people lose interest and will go somewhere else.
PostSecret. I would say it's one of my favourite blogs, but it's really hands-down my favourite blog I've ever read in my whole entire life. It's the only blog I check religiously. It's actually the only blog I read (besides the awesome blogs in my Electronic Journalism class).
Every Sunday, the blog is updated with new postcards people from all over the world have sent in, revealing their deepest, darkest, funniest, scariest secrets. For as long as I've been reading this blog, Frank Warren updates on time, every single week. I know when new secrets will come up and he never lets me down.
So what if he went with the it's-my-blog-I'll-update-whenever-I-want mentality? It'd be so frustrating, never knowing if you're going to have to wait a day or a month for new secrets. So I guess that's my reminder that while blogs are much more casual than newspapers and magazines (using first person, opinions, etc), writers still have to respect their readers.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Typography
I absolutely love typography. Ever since I was little, I would use WordArt to create title pages for anything I could, and the best part was always picking the font and the colours. Thankfully I'm not still using the same fonts and colours (Comic Sans MS, red, was a personal favourite) but I still love it all the same.
Typography really makes or breaks a publication. A crisp, clear font used in a headline can add so much to the article. It sets the mood and without even reading the actual words, a reader can already tell if this piece is a feature or something more serious. A colourful headline hints toward a feature, a distinct font steers the story to something out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, page designers do a much better job than I do when it comes to typography, so I often spend my time salivating over their work rather than trying to make my own.
Typographica put together a list of their favourite typefaces of 2011 and I am in love with Alana (left) and Mija (right).
Typography really makes or breaks a publication. A crisp, clear font used in a headline can add so much to the article. It sets the mood and without even reading the actual words, a reader can already tell if this piece is a feature or something more serious. A colourful headline hints toward a feature, a distinct font steers the story to something out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, page designers do a much better job than I do when it comes to typography, so I often spend my time salivating over their work rather than trying to make my own.
Typographica put together a list of their favourite typefaces of 2011 and I am in love with Alana (left) and Mija (right).
I'm also a big fan of Helvetica (surprise!). It's perfect, versatile, universal - it just works. Always. Period. Fact. I use it whenever I can, I abuse it, and so does about 85% of the worlds population (I made that up). I also used to really like Arial, but only on the computer screen. Printed, it doesn't look as nice as Helvetica. The two are actually fairly similar at first glance, and Ilovetypography.com put together a nice article comparing the two fonts. You can read it here.
In other news, The Hunger Games movie comes out this Friday and I can't wait! I'm absolutely in love with the books and hope the movie does them justice, which I know it won't but I'm excited anyway. May the odds be ever in your favour...
Friday, March 9, 2012
Grab an umbrella, I make it rain
You know how there's certain things you don't really bring up just for small talk? Religion, politics, money? It can get messy real quick because either the person you're talking to doesn't agree with your views and is going to try to suck you into their cult/tribe/political fundraiser, or they do agree with you and immediately sign you up for five years worth of weekly nude Buddhist meetings and schedule your house for the next Republican Club debate. Your landlord's a Democrat so he evicts you, leaving you homeless, but of course your teacher doesn't believe that's why you don't have your homework in, so you fail the class and end up dropping out of college to work at McDonalds's until you get promoted to Zippy's, where you were doing great until Doomsville came to the island in the form of torrential downpour and your job is now a swimming pool and you don't have a lifeguard license. Back to the streets.
I put weather in that list of taboo topics as well. Not because any tragedy, failure, or homelessness has ever come from talking about the weather (to the best of my knowledge). But because once you start talking about the weather with someone, that's when you officially know one of you two fall into the category of "The Most Boring People on the Planet." And you probably don't think it's you. But it probably is. If the conversation carries on for more than ten seconds, it's a safe bet it's both of you.
So how great is it that everyone on Oahu (and by everyone, I mean the majority of my Oahu-living Facebook and Twitter friends) have been talking about the weather?
On the whole Facebook note, please don't be a creep and add these people. They have no idea I'm using their weather-related status' to indirectly label them as "The Most Boring People on the Planet."
By the way, I actually really like all those people. And only one of them is actually boring. Just kidding, just kidding. I'm going to get sued for libel.
I put weather in that list of taboo topics as well. Not because any tragedy, failure, or homelessness has ever come from talking about the weather (to the best of my knowledge). But because once you start talking about the weather with someone, that's when you officially know one of you two fall into the category of "The Most Boring People on the Planet." And you probably don't think it's you. But it probably is. If the conversation carries on for more than ten seconds, it's a safe bet it's both of you.
So how great is it that everyone on Oahu (and by everyone, I mean the majority of my Oahu-living Facebook and Twitter friends) have been talking about the weather?
On the whole Facebook note, please don't be a creep and add these people. They have no idea I'm using their weather-related status' to indirectly label them as "The Most Boring People on the Planet."
By the way, I actually really like all those people. And only one of them is actually boring. Just kidding, just kidding. I'm going to get sued for libel.
I know, I know. Talk about calling the kettle black (whatever that actually means). It's been pouring rain for the past week. I mean seriously, what is up with this weather?
I haven't been able to work because Hard Rock doesn't think it's important to have a cover over the lanai and - surprise! - people don't like to eat while sitting under waterfalls. I have to wear my Uggs to school so I don't end up with frostbite toes and people make fun of me and my entire existence is being wasted away as I write hundreds of characters about the WEATHER! At least I know I'm not the only one.
I'm not going to tell you that the hail was caused by cold weather. I'll leave that to the professionals. I'm talking to you, Star-Advertiser (but +1 for the headline, very catchy).
Stay dry, and don't make fun of my Uggs. They're warm.
And in other design/electronic journalism related news, I learned how to capture a screen shot on a Mac today. You'll also notice I abused that knowledge today (see above).
Thursday, March 1, 2012
FLUX your innov8ation
A friend of mine is a distributor/promoter for innov8 magazine, so I came home from school today to find it on my coffee table. I skim through the occasional issue when I find it and I have to say, I really like this magazine. This is the March/April issue and the cover is a picture of the Haiku Stairs. This immediately caught my eye because it's one of my favourite hikes on the island: the combination of the rush of getting past security, scurrying up the stairs in near darkness and then the solitude at the top all make for a great morning - not to mention the killer views.
I was disappointed when I found out this issue didn't contain an article on this hike. It was simply a small, five sentence paragraph about the Haiku Stairs (Stairway to Heaven). Bummer.
I first compared innov8 to FLUX magazine, because they're both designed with that modern, simple, big-arsty-picture-small-text design that appeals to the hipster population. But once I read through both of them, I realize the articles in innov8 are about two (small) columns on average, while the FLUX articles are much longer and go more in depth.
Overall, both magazines are really well put together, especially in a city that seems to be struggling so much with journalism.
In other news, I'm going to First Thursday/Slam Poetry tonight, and by tonight I mean in 40 minutes and I'm really excited. All the artsy fartsy people gather together and show off how artsy fartsy they are, but it's actually really legit.
I was disappointed when I found out this issue didn't contain an article on this hike. It was simply a small, five sentence paragraph about the Haiku Stairs (Stairway to Heaven). Bummer.
I first compared innov8 to FLUX magazine, because they're both designed with that modern, simple, big-arsty-picture-small-text design that appeals to the hipster population. But once I read through both of them, I realize the articles in innov8 are about two (small) columns on average, while the FLUX articles are much longer and go more in depth.
Overall, both magazines are really well put together, especially in a city that seems to be struggling so much with journalism.
In other news, I'm going to First Thursday/Slam Poetry tonight, and by tonight I mean in 40 minutes and I'm really excited. All the artsy fartsy people gather together and show off how artsy fartsy they are, but it's actually really legit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)