Submit to the current theme

For my user generated content assignment, I submitted a picture to Pictory. Unfortunately, the topic won't close until after this class is over, so I won't be able to find out if they selected my photo or to see any feedback which is a little disappointing.

When I was looking at the different options for this assignment, when I saw Pictory for the first time I knew that was where I wanted to share my content. The site impressed me with how beautiful it is. The pictures are amazing, the stories compelling and the organization and layout of the site itself is nicely done. Clean look, easy to read and navigate, the overall experience is really enjoyable. My wife and I spent a long time looking at the Overseas and Overwhelmed and Platonic Love Stories themes. Setting up my account was as easy and fast as I could have hoped for.

Scott Simon on interactivity

Top Tips For Six-Pack Abs? Cast Your Vote.

Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday had this commentary on interactive content on the web.

Yelp

The Haven was my choice for the first Yelp review. I ate there with some friends who live in the neighborhood on my way to the Pogues concert and I just loved it. I actually planned to write a Yelp review for it that week because I was so impressed, but never got around to it.

It was fun remembering the things we ordered and all of the things I liked about the place, then crafting all of that into a review that was long enough to be thorough without being too long for the medium. I'm guessing people on Yelp are not looking for The Tale of Genji. I was glad to see that my review had already been voted "funny" and "useful".

Reddit

I have found many very cool, interesting interactive places on the web this semester.

Reddit was not one of those. I found the layout confusing and uninteresting. It was as much of a jumble as 4chan, only without the pictures, just a set of links. The categories weren't much help either. I found out the "trees" category is for weed smokers, from my brief look there you would have to be high to find any of it funny.

Pictory

For my UGC, I submitted a photo and story to Pictory.
I don't have a link for it yet because I'm waiting to hear back from the editor, so I put it up on my Flickr page.

 

I was visiting my best friend Mark shortly after he and his wife lost their daughter. They had been foster parents to her with the intention of adopting, from three days old to 17 months, when the state gave her back to the meth-addicted birth mother. 
I saw the unlatched safety lock on the kitchen sink cabinet and it seemed to sum up the heartbreaking situation.

In Praise of Scribes

People who are committed to an older technology fear change. Often they are not willing to admit when the world has passed them by. This is understandable, who wants to recognize that the thing to which one has dedicated one's life is no longer useful. This is true whether you are a scribe, as described by Shirky, a video store owner, or a traditional print journalist. This is clearly where Shirky is aiming his tale.

I found it particularly funny that after Johannes Trithemius, the Abbot of Sponheim writes his impassioned defense of scribes, how does he choose to distribute it? The moveable type, of course! Scribes are too expensive and take too long. The parallel between that and Gladwell writing his attack on social media on a blog is just great. You can't make this stuff up.

Viral babies

In my look for a You Tube video gone viral , I went to the obvious place: Facebook. I didn't have to look too far into my friend's links to find a good example.

Nothing beats cute babies. A video with twin babies laughing at each other, just that with nothing else going on; no special effects, explosions or famous actors, gets over 50 million views on You Tube.

Pictures that DO tell a story

Having failed to find a set of Flickr images that told a story, I thought I would post a link to some photos that definitely do. I have to post it as a link because the site won't let me copy or otherwise repost the pictures themselves.

But this is definitely worth a look. Here is the artist statement:

Nyaba Leon Ouedraogo

Artist statement

The Hell of Copper
Over the past few years Ghana has become one of the principal countries to receive electrical waste materials coming from Europe and the United States. In “The Hell of Copper” I wanted to be as precise as possible, not showing my images for what they depict, but for what they transmit. These thousands of used computers have dramatic consequences for the environment and the health of the workers.

Flickr

Did the Going Deaf For A Fortnight pictures on Filckr tell a story?


Not really, and it's too bad. Just a repetitive set of band pictures. You almost never get to see any context. He could have used some pictures to set the scene, show me who was in the audience, etc.