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Monday, January 31, 2005

Accomplishing Goals

The following two questions were asked in relation to our online documentation class:

  • What did I do to accomplish my goals in OD today?
  • How might I approach the next class to more fully accomplish this?

In reference to the first question, the primary things I did were to complete the reading assignments and review. Because of my background in computers, I was already pretty familiar with the readings. However, I am not very familiar with HTML. Because of this, I spent time just playing around with the code and seeing what I could come up with. It was pretty easy to add bold and italics and a little bit harder to add links to other pages and e-mail, but not that hard. I was able to set up links to my blogs as well as my BG e-mail address. Essentially, I just went out and found examples, looked at the source code, and revised it to fit my needs. This is something that Dr. Mara mentioned in class on Wednesday. Copy and paste are indeed your best friends. I find that experimenting with the code is always the best way for me to learn. I have always done this, whether it be while in the process of learning software such as Word, Excel, etc. or learning code like we did Visual Basic. During the class, I created a program for my daughter that allowed her to learn her times tables. It essentially took two numbers, asked her to multiply them, and she then typed in the answer. The results were written to a txt file for me to review (she didn't know that part). It was simple, but fun for me and her.

In reference to the second question, at this point I do not think I would do anything different. I know how I learn best and have been practicing this for years. While we are learning the basics of HTML and Dreamweaver, I will continue to play as a method of learning.

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Research Question

I have been struggling with this one a bit over the past few days. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that I have so many varied interests. If I stick with the blogging idea, I am looking at a couple of avenues. One involves the need for a code of ethics for blogging. I guess that the question might be:

Is a code of ethics necessary, ethical, beneficial, harmful...for bloggers?

I have also thought about looking at blogs from the viewpoint of categorizing them. Dr. Mara has suggested that I look at Carolyn Miller's work in regard to this topic. Specifically, her publication Into the Blogosphere. Possible questions related to the question of genre include:

What blog genres exist? Is it even necessary to categorize blogs? Why or why not?

Finally, I have started looking at an area completely separate from blogging. I have always been an avid computer gaming enthusiast, and recently have become more interested in online gaming. In addition, I just found out that I have been officially accepted into the doctoral program in Communication Studies here at BG! In talking to the graduate coordinator, the subject of communcation in online environments, and more specifically, online games, came up. I was also intrigued by some of the readings in the English 112 reader regarding this subject. I particularly enjoyed Alex Pham's "Boy, You Fight Like a Girl," which dicussses gender switching in online games. So...as a third possibility, I might like to look at how reactions differ between male and female or female to female characters in online gaming.

Ta Ta for now!

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

My Interests

Today's blog is about my interests. What do I like? In a sense, this is a lot about what I want to be when I grow up! Heck, I am already 41 (soon to be 42), so I guess I should start figuring that out. On the other hand, there is a lot to be said for never growing up completely! I am planning on proceeding on with my Ph.D. here at BG in the Communication Studies department where I intend on focusing on mass media. I have been accepted into the program by the graduate committee at the Communication Studies department, but am waiting for full faculty approval and for news of a funded position. Lately, I have become interested in ethical standards in relation to blogging and I am considering this topic as a possible thesis. However, I have many varied interests. ANYTHING technology related kind of fits into that mix. When it comes to computers and the internet, I find myself drawn to all aspects including hardware, software, networking/internet, coding, and so on and so forth, etc. etc. etc.!

Back to the blogging discussion and ethical standards. There is a conversation started on Blogging, Journalism and Credibility by Rebecca MacKinnon, who is with Harvard Law school's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. In addition, check out this site by Martin Kuhn, a Ph.D. student at UNC who is currently studying the issue of blog ethics. The Harvard site is actually a discussion based on a code of ethics Kuhn has proposed.

What is interesting to me about the whole notion of an ethical code of conduct for blogging is that at first glance it seems useless. How do you enforce such a code? Can you? Is enforcement necessary or is the code simply a set of guidelines? Blogging seems to be an ever-changing, growing, organic activity and it would be difficult at best to try and enforce a code. How do you police something that is in a continual state of change?

If you take the notion that this type of code is not supposed to be enforced, then why bother having a code at all? The same question has to apply to other codes though. What about codes of ethics for legal, medical, human resource, marketing, and accounting professionals? Boy Scouts? What purpose do the codes serve if they cannot be enforced. There certainly could be legal and professional ramifications in some industries. Quite honestly, I do not know enough about this topic yet to answer these questions (which makes it a good project for research I guess!). I could go on and on, but I think I will stop for now until I have learned more about the topic. Until then, happy blogging.

Saturday, January 22, 2005

The Rise of the Creative Class (tROTCC)

Interesting. Very interesting. I did enjoy reading this article and have visited the website for tROTCC. I consider Columbus to be my hometown even though my family moved a few times when I was younger and we now live in Findlay. Columbus was ranked 33 out of the 332! If you are interested, check out where your favorite city ranks at http://www.creativeclass.org/rankings.shtml. Enough of my ramblings. I do believe that Florida had some interesting insights. To me, it was almost like common sense. Why wouldn't creativity lead to economic growth? Florida states on page 17:
This begs the question of what accounts for the ability of some places to
attract and capture a greater quantity or quality of these flows. The answer, I
believe, lies in openness, diversity, and tolerance. Our work finds a strong
correlation between, on the one hand, places open to immigrants, artists, gays,
and socioeconomic integration, and, on the other, places that experience high
quality economic growth.

It seems to be that if a culture is open to diversity in its many forms, this would include diversity of ideas. New ideas breed new opportunities which lead to growth.

I would appreciate clarification on one of his statements. On page 8 he states that "three-quarters of the graduates identified location as more important than the availability of a job when selecting a place to live." What he doesn't state is why location was so important. Perhaps location was important because of family. Did the graduate choose to live close to his or her hometown? He does not show that location was important because of some artistic or cultural reason yet that seems to be the implication. Maybe his focus groups generated the reasons as to why location was important, but he doesn't make that clear here.

I hope that doesn't seem nitpicky, but it bothered me as I was reading the article. The book would be fascinating to read and could probably clear up the questions I have. I do not see why many of the features would not useful to many different groups. For instance, the bike paths. They are not just for old people or young people or families. Likewise, cities with cultural attractions such as museums are not just for patrons of the arts. That is one of the reasons I like Columbus. There is so much to do there for any age range.

What I want to learn

Gee! What do I want to learn? I don't think I have ever been asked that question by a professor before. Thanks Doc! At any rate, this is a topic I have been struggling with. I am attempting to combine projects from this class, research, visual rhetoric, and my thesis. The problem is that since I have so many interests, I have a hard time narrowing my focus. Recently however, I have stumbled across articles relating to blogging and ethical standards. Anything that can help me learn more about this area would be helpful.

In addition, while I feel comfortable with technology and have no problems learning about different types of technology, I am woefully aware of my lack of competence in most things web-related. More specifically, I have interests in HTML, Dreamweaver, Flash, etc. I looked at the classes offered through the university, but they are all scheduled at the same time I am teaching a class. Any input on alternatives would be appreciated. I have used Microsoft FrontPage before and am fairly comfortable with that. After looking at the schedule for the course website, I am encouraged to see boot camps scheduled for HTML, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop.

Finally, I would like to get a better handle on how all of this ties in to online documentation. I am one of those people who do better when I can see the whole picture and right now, I have no idea where we are going. When the big picture is present, the individual assignments, readings, and projects make more sense to me.

Ethical Standards in Blogging

I read an article entitled "Pundits Pondering Need for Ethics Code" which appeared in the January 22nd edition of The Toledo Blade. It has given me some ideas on what my thesis may focus on. This is an AP article and I have not been able to locate a link for it through the Toledo Blade's website or on the net. As soon as I have it I will post the link here.

My favorite waiter selling Coco Locos. Oh how I miss the Bahamas!

Monday, January 10, 2005

Knowledge of On-line Documentation

My primary experience comes from teaching Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook. I have some, but limited, experience with FrontPage and PageMaker. In addition, I have dabbled in a variety of other software, but have no long-term practical experience using any of them. I have also worked with Microsoft NT networks running Windows 2000. Often, I have had to use the on-line help systems or had to search the Internet for assistance with technical issues since I have no formal training in end-user or networking applications. My academic career has been spotted with courses in multimedia including Visual Communications in Business and Industry and Multimedia Production. I have also some experience with Visual Basic. Programming languages come fairly easy to me and I actually started in programming at Ohio State in 1981 learning Fortran and Cobol among others. Over the years, I have been a witness to the much of the computer revolution. I am a blogging newbie and am looking forward to the experience! In addition, while I have a broad background with much of computer technology, I am not really a specialist in anything but Microsoft Office programs. I also have very limited Mac experience, but would like to gain some. I am looking forward to an interesting semester.