Writing & Computers: TED, Diigo WebSlides, Animoto

In Writing and Computers, we talked about open-source (collaborative) content and user-generated content, and how these two technologies work together to form the mold for Web 2.0. We viewed these three Web sites below to inform us more about these technologies and what we need to do for our final presentations. The first Web site, TED, shows us different videos and Web mashups of presentations for differing ideas in the fields of technology, communication/design, and business among others (http://www.ted.com/). We viewed a video about the what and the how behind remixing one content form with another content form.

The second Web site (http://slides.diigo.com/) gives us a platform to put together our own remixed mashup presentations (for example, using a popular song and dubbing it over a popular television or movie clip and adding graphics/slides between different clips).

The third and final Web site, Animoto (https://bl2prd0101.exchangelabs.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=b5c0f9e7358e45069a297e37cd27359c&URL=http%3a%2f%2fanimoto.com%2f), serves the same kind of purpose that Diigo WebSlides does-having your images analyzed, your videos customized, and your music "felt".

I think these three Web sites will prove to be quite helpful to me for my final presentation on user-generated content.

Writing & Computers: How a mashup is like a paper...

With digital mashups, you use many different sources of information and content. Some of that content may come in different forms. In writing a research paper, the only difference is that the writing is the only content you will use. However, different kinds of content, such as videos, blogs, and articles, can be cited. You also use different sources of information for your paper.

Writing & Computers: The "wiki" in Wikipedia

I am shifting gears for the next couple of months to talk about what's happening in Professor Jennings' Writing & Computers class. We have been talking more about blogs as well as "wikis." Both blogs and wikis are user-generated content (one or more people write or create/post photos, videos, sound, or graphics to a page). Wikis are also known as open-source content (anyone who can access or use the page can write or edit content on the page). You may ask, what is a "wiki"? Well, if you have ever heard of Wikipedia, half of that word may make the meaning of "wiki" a little more obvious to you. A wiki is a Web page (or a collection of Web pages) with content that allows anyone who accesses it to contribute their content or edit others content. A great example of a widely used wiki is known as Wikipedia. Many professors and other professionals do not like Wikipedia because of its ability to be edited by anyone. Someone could come onto the page and post false information about something, where in the past content had to be checked for facts and reviewed by peers to appear on a page). However, a few professors I have had say that with Wikipedia (and other wikis), you are getting the best, most unbiased information possible. I believe that with Wikipedia, nearly anyone can edit content without an account, while with other wikis, one has to have a user account. I do agree that Wikipedia can be a source of knowledge about certain topics; however, you do have to check your facts by looking at other Web sites, message boards/forums, and media forms (biased or not) to make sure the information is accurate and professionally checked.

Professor Jennings also gives us plenty of practice with writing and research, as she has given us a Web research and analysis project that is due this Wednesday. Sometimes she gives us a topic and has us write about it for the last few minutes (or half of) the class. This is great practice for anyone going into any communications profession as well as any profession where writing and timeliness are required.

One final note I have to add: my short film, "The Java Addict's Tragedy," got some attention by local blog Web sites Sparkle City Blogs and Spartanburg Spark. You can read more about it at these links:

The Sparkle City Blogs coverage:

http://www.sparklecityblogs.com/

The Spartanburg Spark coverage:

http://www.spartanburgspark.com/2008/09/video-o-rama-java-addicts-tragedy-pot-bubbles-hells-gate-and-bustin-parking-lot-moves/