Finito!

Old Projects

The Fall 06 semester has delightfully come to a close! Our final Web projects were turned in about two weeks ago and it looks like everyone came really far with their design skills. As I mentioned before, there were a lot of things I wish I could have added to or improved on, but that would have been difficult considering the other classes I needed to focus on as well. Bring it on Spring!

New Projects

A gentleman I work with on campus recently inherited the Web site of an area lake association that he belongs to. Sadly, the previous owner passed it on in a severe state of disorganization and chaos. With limited knowledge of Web design and knowing that my friend Christie and I just finished our Communicating on the Net course, he's adopted our help. We're not great, but we don't charge anything :) . If you stumble upon this and check out the link, Gary is looking for any type of comments or opinions of what would look best/most professional for a lake association Web site. They have many members who use the site as a resource in their legal battle against Florida mining businesses to save their beloved lakes. As a beginner in this area, my question is basically what should set organizations' Web sites apart from, say, a small business or a law firm or something of that nature? Are there industry standards for this sort of thing, or does anything go? There's no doubt the site needs work, as Gary acknowledges, but at this point it seems that starting from scratch might work best to achieve a professional look.

It's Crunch Time

Final exams and projects have temporarily taken over my life! First on the list of priorities is my final web project for Communicating on the Internet. I'm creating a webpage/news story about the nation's recent fight against trans-fats in the average American diet. With more time and resources, I would have loved to include a video interview with a nutritionist on campus. I think I'll be lucky to get some good audio to use. Whatever the outcome, I'll post the link to all the student projects for whoever may be interested. Until then, it's back to the Dreamweaver drawing board.

From block party to blog party

Bloggers can now accept their press passes with pride. CNN is hosting an election night blogger party for notable political bloggers to gather with their laptops and keep track of pour-ins from the polls. While most large news organizations do have an election 2006 blog of some kind, CNN's blog party shines the spotlight on independent bloggers and recognizes them as a bona fide media group. It will be interesting to see who follows suit.

be a concious consume(RED)

I've been a huge fan of Oprah for as long as I can remember. I don't agree with every single thing she says or does, but her shows provoke my deep thoughts and there's no way to ignore her presence in the global society. She did a show about two weeks ago dedicated to the new (RED) campaign (specifically a business model, not a charity) that several major retailers have adopted in an effort to raise money for AIDS assistance in Africa.

The whole deal is that consumers don't have to go out of their way to donate money to a charity that they see no results from. This isn't like buying one of those paper shoes for $1 so it can be hung up at a CVS check-out register (not that those programs don't do good stuff, that's not the point). Gap, Armani, Motorola, Apple and American Express are marketing unique (RED) products that fit the company's signature styles and passing a percent of the proceeds on to buy anti-retroviral drugs for those with AIDS. This month Motorola is releasing a new (RED) Razr, and Apple's got a (RED) iPod nano already in stores. All you have to do is buy what you would have bought anyway. Their website goes much more in depth, and it's definiately worth a looksie. The (RED) blog has been posting real people stories about where the money is going complete with pictures of once-sick and now healthy school children smiling from ear to ear. Check it out. I dare you to resist those little faces. So go shopping. This time it's totally justified.

A consumer note

And if anyone wants to get me an "It's the first of November" gift, this would be perfect. I'm not a huge fan of trance-y music, but the soundtrack to Project Runway just makes me feel fabulous, and would probably do the same for you. And who doesn't deserve to feel fabulous?

The Political World is a Scary Place

Withholding any opinion about Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's latest headlines, it's still a little frightening to think that saying one sentence could wipe your face all over national television and stamp your name on headlines all over the country. All hail the power of the media.

happy birthday, blog!

After a visit from Mindy McAdams in our Online Communications lab tonight, I was inspired to take my online journalism education a step further. She teaches two of the next courses I'll be taking at UF's College of Journalism and Communications, and a renowned expert on flash. Her whole deal is with multimedia journalism and I was pretty drawn in to what she had to say. She talked about how these days, getting a job at a newspaper means answering interview questions about web design, XHTML and CSS, content management systems and blogging. She keeps her own blog and has had a really positive response. I used to maintain a blog on my Myspace page, but abandoned it some time ago. Time to get started once again. Here goes nothing!

If you've read this far, take one more click and check out Chevy's latest PR stunt. Their hosting "Livin Large in an Aveo" to promote their newest car in the perfect 18 to 24-year-old market. Eight universities have a two-person team living in a car until Friday, leaving only to go to class and take "body breaks." They're all keeping their own blogs, and you can peek in on their webcam. They're counting on voters, (like YOU!) to help them each win a new Aveo and a few cars for UF. Vote everyday! It's fun!

I'll keep posting fun or interesting stuff that I come across. You can check back for news stories that strike a chord, YouTube videos I might be playing on repeat or tidbits of journalistic multimedia that excite me about this road I'm on. Stay tuned!

And for fellow Wikipedia addicts: their page on Halloween
Happy trick-or-treating/scantilly-clad dressing up/typical college debauchery!