Development In Greenville

 
Greenville Engineering a video by jamiecrawford1 on Flickr.

The slideshow displays names of engineering firms followed by a few images of a project that they were a part of.

5 Photo Edits

                                                                       

 

Kress & Van Leeuwen "Meaning of Composition"

 

This article illustrates that complexity that goes behind the composition of nearly everything these days.   A similar example is a grocery store.  You would expect that a grocery store would be concerned with making sure that it hires the right workers who can be helpful to customers, labeling and organizing aisles in ways that are easy to navigate, and keeping food fresh.  While they do want the store to be organized, convenience is not considered.  Most stores want their customers passing by everything in the store, every time they come in.  That is why most often, pharmacy in the front, milk in the back, produce on one side, alcohol on the other side.  Usually, almost everything in the store is strategically placed.

Forms of text and images are no different.  What I found interesting was that Kress & Van Leeuwen connected the left and right, Given and New aspect to language.  Pages are stressed the same way that words are when we talk.

This ad is an excellent example.  Chipotle used salience here to draw attention to the only four important words: our ingredients are better.




Disussion Question: What is the difference between salience and framing?

 

The Meaning Of Life

Sturken & Cartwright "Viewers Make Meaning"

This chapter was summed up well in the first paragraph when it stated that apart from the image and its producer, meaning is constructed in three ways:

• by codes and conventions that structure the image and cannot be separated from the content of the image
• by how the viewers interpret or experience the image

• by the contexts in which an image is exhibited and viewed

As the chapter continues and further illustrates these points through art and advertising, I could not help but not apply these very same principles to a much bigger concept: the meaning of life.

The age old question, what is the meaning of life?  Why do we exist?  In a universe so vast, what makes us so special that not only does our planet contain life, but we have rational thought and the mental capacity to even consider such a question? 

While science has not figured that out yet, religion will have to do in the mean time.  Many people find their meaning through religion and the idea that (blank) higher power has put us here for (blank) reasons.  It is a compelling concept considering the complexity of almost any aspect of our universe. 

Think about the magnificence of the macro or the micro in physics or what goes on in the human body or how life started on Earth.  Any of these incredible areas will make you wonder how it ever could have happened by chance. 

Let's assume for a minute that it couldn't have happened by chance and that, for the sake of argument, Christianity is accurate.  Our purpose then, would be to live by the ten commandments and spread the word of God to others, to oversimplify. 

This would be God's "preferred message" to us.  As the "author" of the universe, it would be how he intended us to find meaning in our lives.  However, nothing compels me to follow this preferred message.  So, if you were to create a religion, how would you address that problem?  The afterlife!

To me, the idea of an afterlife in religion says that if you live your life in this way, you get to experience the everlasting glory of spending eternity in this perfect place....or in the worst place you could ever imagine if you don't live in this way, a glass half full/empty kind of thing I suppose. 

Anyway, the purpose of this is not for me to push anti-religious views.  But wouldn't it be a little boring if we really did have one true purpose?  Isn't the idea of creating your own meaning in the world just a little more interesting? 

The same ideas can be applied to a world in which there is no God.  Many particle physicists and cosmologists think that "the answer" to the universe can be found within the tiniest of particles that make up matter, or anti-matter, or whatever or out in the farthest reaches of the cosmos. 

Once again, let's assume that they are right and that one day, "the answer" is found.  Hallelujay! Praise science! We have meaning and purpose now! Right? I say nothing changes.  I would say we have done pretty well so far by finding our own meaning. 

Does why we exist matter?  All I know is that I do exist and I can pretty much do whatever I want, so I'm not going to waste my time abiding by some idea that really doesn't affect me, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course, if God does exist and there is an afterlife, then I'm probably going to hell because I would simply call myself spiritual, and then everything I have said here loses A LOT of its merit.  But I have the rest of my life to figure that out.  When I retire, I'll have plenty of time to ponder these great questions. 

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Sturken and Cartwright's "Images, Power, and Politics"

 A picture's ability to convey emotions, feelings, and thoughts are why a picture is said to be worth a thousand words.  This chapter explored the power of images and what kinds of reactions they can evoke.  Although there are many things that make images powerful, the most obvious is that they do not evoke the same reactions from everyone.

Ideologies are how we give meaning to the world and also how we understand the world.  The same is true of how we give meaning to images.  My favorite example in this chapter was about the monetary value of artwork.

This painting by Vincent Van Gogh is titled "Irises".  It sold for $53.8 million.  But what makes it so special? I can print it out and put it in my living room and it should get the same reaction out of me as someone who would pay that amount, right?  As far as I am concerned, yes.  But that is because I don't get the same reaction, so I can't understand. 

Images contain so many aspects that can speak to us in so many ways.  Their connotative meanings can be so deep that no amount of words can express what can be expressed in a picture.  Good examples of this are the picture of the man in Tiananmen Square and also the segregated bus, both of which were talked about in the chapter.  They carry heavy cultural and social connotations that would not be there without a knowledge of what was happening in the photos. 

This illustrates how we each give our own meaning to pictures through ideologies.  Someone who does not know what happened at Tiananmen Square or who does not know about the Civil Rights era will react completely differently when shown the photos. 

It is interesting to think about the differences between text and imagery.  An artist and an author will both have a desired message.  In my opinion, it is much more likely that the author will convey that message to his readers.  Does that make print better? No.  Images can encapsulate so many layers of meaning in one place that it is incredible.  A viewer can form whatever opinion and meaning about it that he or she desires. 

Discussion Question:  Do you think artists and authors take similar approaches to their work in the sense of trying to reach people?





 

Practicing Blog Techniques

"Writing For Digital Media" by Brian Carroll

 

Chapter 4 - Headlines and Hypertext

This chapter went into details about how to effectively use headlines, hyperlinks, text.  I agreed with all of the information Carroll provided about headlines, though it was relatively uninsightful.  What I found more valuable, was the mention of "chunking".

Chunking is the division of your article into small sections to make it easier to scan and more appealing for the reader.  Chunking is also very hard for me to do.  I've never cared much for writing and consequently I've never given much consideration to my readers.  My preferred writing style is to just keep going and have one big block of boring text that nobody wants to read, but it's there because I was assigned to write it.

I figured it would only make sense to practice these techniques here.  Much of the information we have learned so far in Carroll's book and also in the other articles is somewhat intuitive, but the methods described are one's that I do not practice (or did not practice).

So, the goal here for my posts is to implement everything we learn and hopefully produce work that is structurally and technically comparable to that of a professional blogger.

"Journalism of Verification"

The Journalism of Verification article does a good job pointing out some of the negative consequences that have arisen out of the whole internet/technology boom.  Information is available at an all time high, but credibility is at an all time low.  This change can be attributed to one simple thing: the internet. 

Information flows in a cycle centered around the internet.  Any of us can look up just about anything on the internet with ease and without doing in-depth research.  The second step to the cycle occurs when we share that information, whether through a blog, website, email, facebook, or any other medium that can be accessed immediately around the world.  The third step is a repeat of the first step when someone else stumbles upon the information that we shared.

We all do this without considering ourselves "journalists".  And since we aren't journalists, we don't engage in the practices of good journalism, such as fact checking.  But when I can post information somewhere and it be as easily accessible to someone as mainstream media (though it lacks the popularity), I become a "journalist", in a sense. 

These changes the have moved us from journalism of verification to journalism of assertion make those good journalistic practices that much more important.  Everyone is skeptical of what they read (or at least should be) and the importance of establishing trust with an audience cannot be understated. 

Form as the New Content

"Writing For Digital Media" by Brian Carroll 

 

Chapter 2 - Digital Media Versus Analog Media

 

In this chapter, Brian Carroll describes some of the ways in which digital media differs from traditional media, or analog media.  Because digital media has so many more elements to it, there is much more to consider when writing, but Carroll states that the main roles of the writer have not changed.  He or she must communicate to the reader in an effective manner, decide what information is best to include and organize that information efficiently, and ensure that the chosen medium maximizes the strengths of minimizes the weaknesses of the message.  A good writer is able to accomplish all of these tasks, whether through digital or traditional means.  However, no matter how proficient the writer, these skills are ineffective unless the writer has credibility.

Establishing credibility is probably the single most important job for any writer.  One way for a writer to help earn their readers' trust is transparency.  Being able to connect with your audience and convey a human voice that is honest and believable is key, but it is not enough.  While being transparent as a writer is important, Carroll provides a number of other methods that can help boost a writer's credibility.  I was surprised at how technical Carroll got in describing an effective web page.  Domain names, advertising methods, fonts, organization of information, links, headlines, and keywords are all analyzed by Carroll and described in ways that a writer can use them in his or her favor.   For example, I could have listed those aspects of web pages in a vertical list such as this:

• Domain names: a domain name that contains or is similar to your company's name will appear more official and increase credibility
• Advertising methods: advertisements should be distinguishable from content and excessive ads or pop-up ads will further diminish credibility
• Fonts: size, color, and type of font can be used to increase a sites "scan-ability" and make the site more user-friendly
• Organization: the way a writer layers his or her information is crucial to "scan-ability" and also the efficiency of the web page
• Links: links to navigate easily within a site prevent user frustration and the credibility of any site you link to becomes associated with your site
• Keywords: using key words throughout your writing and in your headings and sub-headings will help increase your site's "search-ability" so that readers can find your site through search engines

 This method is easier for readers to navigate, I can add information about each topic without cluttering the page, and readers can easily find the more important pieces of information and pick up what they want.  A writer who can master these intricacies as well as properly incorporate visual aids will assuredly see that their published content is successful in terms of being seen and believed by their intended audience. 

Dailytekk has a post displaying what somebody considers to be the top 100 blogs and websites for this year.  Multiple things from not only the post, but also the site stand out.  We can look at the site itself and think about some of the things that Brian Carroll talked about.  The first thing I noticed was the ad at the bottom of the screen.  The ad got my attention initially, but was not in the way and did not detract from the content.  I also noticed the social media integration on the far left of the page.  In addition, the content of the post was organized into categories, each containing five sites.  Links were provided all throughout the post as well as a picture of the number one site in each category.  The font color provided enough contrast for easy read-ability and the headings eased me through the post.  Also, the writer explains what they looked at when deciding which sites were the "best, most interesting" sites.  Content, style, and design were the determining factors.  CONTENT WAS ONLY 1/3 OF THE DECISION!  Clicking on just a few of these top blogs and websites I could see that the creators definitely paid attention to the style and design to help complement their content.  Clearly, standing out among digital media requires tedious efforts to ensure that your message is heard by everyone.

Chapter 3 - Screen Writing: Online Style and Techniques

 

This chapter was an extension of the previous chapter in the Carroll further detailed how to style and design your webpage in order to maximize its efficiency.  He continued to detail many goals of web designers that are fairly obvious and that he has already covered.  Content should be easily navigable, aesthetically pleasing, and highly readable....yadda, yadda.   What I found interesting about this chapter was his description of how online reading is different for that reader and how that affects the writer.

Carroll cites a study by Jakob Nielsen that reports that Web users read around 25 percent slower on screen than on paper.  Because they are reading slower, they are reading less.  In turn, writers have to use direct and concise language.  He also explains how elaborate language or the wrong tone can turn readers off.  While I understand that in this digital age with an excess of information available, writers must find ways to stick out, it is slightly disconcerting to me when every aspect of the content is manicured to appeal to the reader.  Fortunately, print is not dead yet and I'm sure that the truest writers, who want their message to be heard and fully understood, would be happier in reaching a smaller audience with their message exactly how they want than in reaching a larger audience with content catered to the average web user.  Although I hope that print never truly dies, I believe that these "true" writers will never concede to the masses and that their content will exist in the far corners of the web.  Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with writers adapting to a changing world of media, it is just unfortunate to hear how the writers should alter their writing style and use of language to appeal to web users.  The writer that can meet all of these recommendations while best maintaining the integrity of their message will have the best of both worlds.

Discussion Question:  When the majority of online publishers become proficient in catering their sites to the readers, how will they continue to stand out among the online community?

Discussion Question:  Do these methods of optimizing web pages take away from the integrity of the author's true message?

Rettberg on the Values of Blogs

Chapter 4: "Citizen Journalists?"

 

This Chapter of Rettberg's book detailed some of the important characteristics of blogs and in doing so, it showed three things: the diversity of blogs, the prevalence of blogs, and the significance of blogs.  According to a survey cited in this chapter, 37% of blogs are diary style which focus solely on the personal life of the blogger.   I have always considered these blogs to be essentially useless and about as significant as a Facebook profile.  The chapter cited multiple cases, however, in which these personal blogs provided insider information to key world events.  While this only happens to an extremely small number of diary bloggers, it underscores the importance of them and helps prove the point that the blogosphere does not have to be in direct conflict with mainstream media.  The blogosphere makes mainstream media better.  After all, what is the goal of mainstream media?  To inform the public.  Of course, there is corruption and a desire to control public thought that we can't forget about, but that is where the beauty of blogs comes in to play.  Money does not control blogs.  Blogs thrive because they are not slanted towards the economic ties of a television network or publishing company, they are only slanted by the bias of the blogger.  If you don't like the opinions of a particular blogger, there are countless others with their own opinions for you to follow.  Another benefit of blogs: many of them are true journalists.  Many professional journalists have blogs under pseudonyms so they can report things that their employer might not want published under their name.  These crucial differences between the blogging community and mainstream media make each other better because of their conflict.  As written in the chapter, it is symbiosis.

Chapter 6: "Blogging Brands"

The term "blogging brands" refers to the relatively new idea of corporate blogs.  If you had asked me before I had read this article what the ramifications of corporate bloggging are, I probably wouldn't have said much.  After reading it, it is clear that they have changed the game of marketing almost entirely.  Speaking as a consumer, I agree with everything that was said in the article about how the advertising methods of the past are becoming ineffective and that companies are searching for new ways to connect with their customers.  Interestingly, I don't think I would have been able to say how companies are trying to do this without having read this article.  The marketing departments in these companies know more about me than I do.  They know how to effectively advertise to me even if I don't know what will appeal to me.  I am curious to see if the corporate blogs can maintain the association of honesty and human connection or if after awhile we will start to view them as hollow as well.  We know that companies hire marketing teams to run these blogs with the sole purpose of maintaining their image and increasing sales.  For this reason, I could definitely see consumers losing trust in corporate blogs as well.  Personally, I do not think that there will ever be a permanent solution to connecting with customers because it will always boil down to money, and we know that.

Reading Response #2: Rettberg Chapter 2, 3

Chapter 2: "From Bards to Blogs"

https://courses.furman.edu/pluginfile.php/74883/mod_resource/content/1/Rettberg_BardstoBlogs.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,0,620

This chapter touched on many different aspects concerning blogging.  Overall, I found the main point to be how blogging can be viewed as a Second Orality.  It combines features from the early days when speech was the only form of communication and the days of Literacy, in which print was invented and became a form of mass communication.  The dialectic nature as well as the ease with which users can also publish online makes blogging a far superior method not only to print, but other forms of mass communication such as television and radio.  Creating a blog is cheaper, easier, and more practical because you can operate it from your home.  Because entry costs are essentially a computer and an internet connection, virtually anyone can become a blogger and thus you are able to find your information form thousands of different sources.  Therefore, you must also be wary of the legitimacy of the information. It was also interesting to hear some facts that made me realize just how fast our culture is changing.  The first popular personal computer came out in 1984! That was not even 30 years ago.  Fast forward to 2006, now 75% of the 18-44 population is getting online at least weekly.  Fast forward to now, where I would guess a higher percentage than that is getting online daily.  Being so young, it is sometimes hard to see the changes that have happened just in the last 10 or 15 years and it is almost scary to think where we will be in another 15. 

Chapter 3: "Blogs, Communities, and Networks"

https://courses.furman.edu/pluginfile.php/74885/mod_resource/content/1/Rettberg_BlogsCommunitiesNetworks.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,0,620

Rettberg focused on the sociology of blogs and social networks in this chapter and why and how they work.  One reason is the ease with which conversation takes place.  Because everything is archived, you can use a search engine to find topics you are interested in and weigh in on it with people you've never met before.  In addition, the social aspect of blogs results in "friendships" and people with whom you have interact with online on a regular basis.  Bloggers can have online identities that are completely apart from their life offline.  Also, conversations can be a fast or as slow as the participants want.  Boyd summed up what defines online social networks apart from other networks into 4 aspects: persistence, searchability, replicability, and invisible audiences.  Personally, I never considered myself a blogger and would never imagine myself having a blog.  But I never realized that Facebook and Twitter are hardly any different, if different at all.  They have all the aspects described by Boyd (depending on your privacy options) and are operated in the same way.  Whether we like it or not, we are all (or almost all of us) a part of "the blogosphere".

Reading Response #1: Carr

Carr: "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/

Is Google making us stupid?  At first, the mere question seems stupid.  Of course not.  Google helps us find information easier, some of it we will retain, therefore making us smarter.  But intelligence isn't measured random collection of useless facts (which is pretty much the only reason I use Google).  The article's main was that Google has changed they way we expect and process information.  Our elastic minds are susceptible to change and the wealth of information presented through digital text combined with the thousands of ads presented alongside have turned us into mindless fact suckers who rely on new information to stimulate us before we get bored.  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating the point, but that's what the article seemed to be trying to say.   I feel there is a bigger theme though.  The article used all aspects of technology to cite examples in which inventions have had positive and negative consequences on society.  The invention of computers, Gutenberg's printing press, and even written language all had their effects.  Looking at these three inventions, if history is any indicator, I would say that the benefits of Google outweigh the negative aspects.  Ultimately, nothing is without consequence.  Perfect is not a word that describes any aspect of life (at least not human life).  We could look at modern medicine too.  As a species, we have reversed evolution.  Does this mean that we should stop trying to improve the quality of life for people through drugs and medical procedures?  Although we probably do rely do too heavily on drugs instead of proper diet and exercise, the answer is probably not.  The lives of countless people have been extended by many years and much pain, suffering, and disease has been avoided.  But back to the article, I suppose I can agree with the claim that we do think differently as a result of the internet.  In fact, I stopped mid way through reading the Google article to entertain some other random thought I had while reading it.  Does this mean that we are indeed more stupid because of the internet?  I don't think so.  In a society that is fast paced in all aspects (including how we now get our information) our minds are simply adapting.  Oh, and I could not get the other article to load after trying numerous times.

First Blog Post!

My name is Jamie Crawford and I am currently a pre-engineering major.  Being such a broad field, engineering is somewhat scary for me because I do not know what field I want to go into.  I have one more year here at Furman before I transfer to another school and declare a major in a specified engineering field.  I hope to get into Georgia Tech for my last two years of the Dual-Degree program.  I am certainly more interested in Civics or even Architecture or Chemical Engineering.  My cousin Samantha graduated with a degree in Bio-chemical Engineering and works for Proctor&Gamble and enjoys her job so that is a route that I would also consider.  I also took a class in computer programming during my Freshman year and found that interesting so I could also see myself pursuing that.  Basically, I haven't the slightest clue what I want to do yet so I am still working that out.

As far as this class goes, I think it could help me out in multiple ways.  The workplace is becoming increasingly digital and a basic understanding gives me value to a company.  Also, if my job were to include designing anything it would be very important to know how to use to the software.  I am also eager to learn how to make a website.  Every company needs to have their information available online through an efficient, user-friendly site and there will always be jobs for people in Web Design. 

I have seen many Engineering firms around the Greenville area so for my topic I could talk to some of them.  I could share what projects they are working on and how they are going about completing them.  This would also give me a lot of helpful insight into the field.  It will be valuable to see some of what goes on considering I have not had an internship or done any time shadowing.  Another topic that interesting me is the Greenville Drive baseball team.  I could do research on the team and post about all of their games, how the players are doing, who has potential, who the team is looking at.  I'm sure there would be enough news going on with the team right now for me to blog about.  A third potential topic I would be interesting in posting about would be politics in South Carolina.  Because I attend school here, it only makes sense that I should know what is going on in the state.  Admittedly, I don't follow what goes on as much as I should.  Speaking of which, I still need to register to vote....oops.