20 NEW STUDENT BLOGS: Let the Games Begin!

My esteemed judges,

Below are 20 new blogs created by my students as a final exam. Each contains an introductory post with an accompanying photo, podcast, or video; a short news article; and a small feature. I would like you to check out each and choose five stands out in terms of:
- overall presentation
- engaging writing
- personality conveyed via the photo/podcast/video

PLEASE NOTE: Since blogs place their most recent post up top, I suggest scrolling to the bottom and reading from the bottom up to first get an idea of who the blogger is at the bottom-most post before looking at their other work up-top.

Please e-mail me a list of your top 5 choices (from first best blog to fifth best) and I will tabulate your votes and announce the winners this Monday.

My students and I thank you for your time and consideration,
Daniel Villarreal

Brittany Falafel

Debacle Debate

Meducomp

Black and Making It Too

Bitch-tits

Gooood Morning

Its Probably Fine

Boobtube News

Worthy to Say

Zoltron Zero

Come Right Out And Say It Now

Animation Expedition

12oz. Writer

Melon Adventures

Robot Schizophrenia

Broad-Concepts

Slight Figure of Speech

I Love My SNES* (*NOTE: Please only consider the FIRST THREE ARTICLES in this submission and none more).

Postmodernish

Hiptronic

Sci-Fi Blogging Internship for Dorks

Sci-fi website io9 is seeking an intern. Apply here, if you dare!

THE BEST IN CLASS BLOGGING!

BEST NEWS FEATURE:

- Sophie Perrault's "What Will It Take To Revive Wonder Woman On Screen?"

- Daniel Mikelonis' "What Can You Legally Do With Your Appearance, Gender, Genitals, and Death"

- Maxon Foster-McAlpine's "Will The 3DS Deliver On Its Promises?"

Honorable Mention

- Evan Harper's "Is The Reaction Against Graffiti Justified?"

BEST QUICKIES:

- Evan Wilson's "Traumatic Trailers"

- Rebecca Jones' "Run the Tape: Today's Vid Picks"

BEST INDIVIDUAL PODCAST:

- Sophie Perrault's "I'm Lovin' It: Toddlers and Tiaras"

- Edward Kim's "A Few Words From The Love Doctor"

- Evan Harper's American Vandals Episode 2

Honorable mentions: Liann Harris' "Wicked", Marian Fields' "Backhand", Daniel Mikelonis' Paws for Thought - Episode 2

BEST LISTICLE:

- Maxon Foster-McAlpine's "Five Games That Are So Bad They're Good"

- Sammie Le's
"Top 5 K-Pop Controversies, Mistakes Made, And How To Avoid Them"

- Sophie Perrault's "My Top 5 Favorite Sitcom Head Bitches In Charge"

Honorable Mentions: Laura Massey's "Five Movies To Inspire Your Thrift Store Purchases", Rebecca Jones' "5 Biggest Badasses in the World of Tarantino", Daniel Mikelonis' "Five Reasons Why Jared Loughner Wouldn't Have Shot Anyone If He Were a Dog", and Evan Harper's "The Five Most Successful Heists in the Last 100 Years"

BEST INTERVIEW:

- Laura Massey's "Jamie Fletcher; Differences Across Western Cultures"

- Daniel Mikelonis' "Minister of Modification: The Flesh and Blood Spirituality of David Hahn"

- Sammie Le's "I Don't Think What I'm Doing Is So Bad As Long As I'm Happy": An Interview With A Sasaeng Fan"

- Sophie Perrault's "My Interview with Feminist Frequency's Anita Sarkeesian"

Honorable Mentions: Marian Fields' "Your EXCLUSIVE Hoppin' Backstage Pass At The Pouch Club", Aly Tharp's "Vegan Chef Matty Kime Tells it Like it is", Evan Harper's "Interview With Lucas Henry; What Can We Learn From A High School Teacher", Edward Kim's One On One With A B-Boy: Sammy Kim

BEST INDIVIDUAL VIDEO:

- Sophie Perrault's Here Is A Vid & It's Sealed With A Kiss

- Aly Tharp's "The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead"

- Sammie Le's I Hate Windows Movie Maker

- Meghan Jones' "To The London Eye"

Honorable Mention: Cody Chavis' "Don't Hold It Against Me, Paying Homage to Britney Spears"

BEST EXTENDED GROUP FEATURE:

- Three Guys, A Girl, And A Blog "Sherman Serenity Group Provides Sobriety To Those In Need"

BEST GROUP PODCAST:

- While You Exist's "Colonialism without an Alibi": Peter Anderson on Apartheid, Africa and Education" and Selling Us to Us: Peter Anderson on Advertising, America and our Actions

BEST GROUP VIDEO:

- While You Exist's Smallapalooza Goes Big

Runner-Up: Three Girls, A Guy, And A Blog's "Skate Away From Friday Night Boredom"

FINAL EXAM: Updated Information.

Updated information about the final HERE. Please read before beginning.

DUE MONDAY: The FINAL Artist's Way Assignments

Hey gang, please finish reading through the remainder of The Artist's Way and do at least EIGHT of the following activities in your notebooks (I will take up notebooks Monday and have then Tuesday):

CHAPTER 8 (do at least 2)
x 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
p. 144-145

CHAPTER 9 (do at least 1)
x 2, 3, 4
pg. 159-160

CHAPTER 10 (do at least 1)
x 4, 5
pg. 167-168

CHAPTER 11 (do at least 2 or 3)
x 1, 2, 4, 7, 10

CHAPTER 12 (do at least 1 or 2)
x 4, 5, 8, 9

Microblogging: Using Twitter To Share Your Ideas

Tomorrow we will discuss how to "microblog" using Twitter. Microblogging is exactly what it sounds like—a way to share your thoughts and media with others in a short form (in this case, only 140 characters).

Microblogging isn't a waste of time. It can be a great way to share quick ideas, to let people know what you're doing, and to find out about breaking news. During the so-called Green Revolution that erupted after Iran's recent election scandal, the Iranian government blocked social networking websites to prevent its citizens from communicating with each other. However, many students continued to use Twitter to organize, evade arrest, and speak with the media.

Here's a 9-minute basic Twitter tutorial about setting up your profile, finding people to follow, and directing messages to other. If you wanna put a link in your tweets, you can shorten long web addresses with a URL shortener like bit.ly. If you want to attach images to your tweets, sign up for a free account at TwitPic and upload your images there. And to learn more about retweeting and replying to other people's messages as well as adding hashtags to join in larger conversations, read this quick article.

And for advanced Twitter users:

Learn how to search for popular terms and breaking news using Twitter Search. You can publish your Blogger blog to Twitter using Twitfeed here.

Also, Tweetdeck is a wonderful and free program that will help you keep on top of what topics are hottest on Twitter, sorting the people you follow into different categories, and helping you update and edit your tweets. Learn more about it here. It even has Facebook integration and other tools to help you stay on top of breaking news.

Lastly, a quick Facebook tip. Did you know you can actually make RSS feeds of your friend's activity in Facebook so you can stay updated via Google Reader? It's true!

DIY Tutorial: Using iMovie '08

During the second half of tomorrow's class we will be doing a small additional tutorial on iMovie '08 in the digital lab. But take about 10 minutes tonight to go over the tutorial videos here explaining the basics of how to use the program.

I suggest watching all of the following:
- Creating a movie
- Adding Music
- Adding Sound Effects
- Adding Voiceover
- Adding Titles

And here's a PDF of the iMovie '08 instructional booklet if you wanna read about another topic specifically.

This is How I Want You to Feel About Blogging

You are the monkey and blogging is your new puppy (that almost never poos!)

Relax... You Probably Aren't Failing

For all of you who are stressing out about your grade in this class... relax. Most everyone has an A or a B as it stands. And unless you have missed more than two days of class without a doctor's note, you're in good standing.

But if you have missed three days with no doctor's note, you should probably talk to me ASAP.

ADVICE: Remember the 3-Steps to Good Blog Entries

Remember, when it comes to developing any news story into a feature, simply ask and answer these three questions:

1. What is the news story? (WHAT - What's new?)
- a brief summation of the actual story

2. Why does it matter to you? (SO WHAT? - Why does it matter?)
- what's their personal stake in this?
- why is this issue important to the writer?

3. Why should other people care? (NOW WHAT? - What should we do or consider next?)
- point to other specific culture items/events that are related to this topic
- make a statement on why this effects more than just the people in the story and people like you.

You can ride this advice all the way to a successful career in blogging. I promise.

REMINDERS: Promos, Feedback, Posts, and Food

1. Your group's promotional materials are due MONDAY. You must e-mail me all of the following:

- Photos of flier placement (minimum 7)
- A link to an ad on your blog promoting your event
- Images from the event
- Screen shots of any promo you did on Twitter or Facebook
- A link to a wrap-up post about the event with photos, summary, and thanks.

2. If you want more feedback on your assignments from last week call me! My number is listed on the front page of the syllabus.

3. If you did not post your class assignment from today, DO IT NOW.

4. If your group is getting food from Aramark, please contact Mary Buick (her contact info is here). Please write her immediately.

TONIGHT'S ASSIGNMENT: Video #2

1-3 minutes long - due by 10am tomorrow

You must do ONLY one of the following:

- A review like mine of The Grapevine Bar

- A photo gallery of still photographs or images like the ones in "Idiot With A Tripod/Man In A Blizzard"

- A comment like my comment on "A Camera Ate My Soul" or How America Cheats the Worldwide Cotton Trade

- A mini-show like "The Alex and Charlie pilot"

As I said, no dancing or lip-syncing videos please. You will be judged on how well you present your topic: the writing/speaking should be specific and the images should be compelling and well-composed.

CLASS AWARDS! BEST OF CLASS BLOGGING!

BEST NEWS FEATURE:

- Sophie Perrault's "What Will It Take To Revive Wonder Woman On Screen?"

- Daniel Mikelonis' "What Can You Legally Do With Your Appearance, Gender, Genitals, and Death"

- Maxon Foster-McAlpine's "Will The 3DS Deliver On Its Promises?"

Honorable Mention

- Evan Harper's "Is The Reaction Against Graffiti Justified?"

BEST QUICKIES:

- Evan Wilson's "Traumatic Trailers"

- Rebecca Jones' "Run the Tape: Today's Vid Picks"

BEST INDIVIDUAL PODCAST:

- Sophie Perrault's "I'm Lovin' It: Toddlers and Tiaras"

- Edward Kim's "A Few Words From The Love Doctor"

- Evan Harper's <American Vandals Episode 2

Honorable mentions: Liann Harris' "Wicked", Marian Fields' "Backhand", Daniel Mikelonis' Paws for Thought - Episode 2

BEST LISTICLE:

- Maxon Foster-McAlpine's "Five Games That Are So Bad They're Good"

- Sammie Le's
"Top 5 K-Pop Controversies, Mistakes Made, And How To Avoid Them"

- Sophie Perrault's "My Top 5 Favorite Sitcom Head Bitches In Charge"

Honorable Mentions: Laura Massey's "Five Movies To Inspire Your Thrift Store Purchases", Rebecca Jones' "5 Biggest Badasses in the World of Tarantino", Daniel Mikelonis' "Five Reasons Why Jared Loughner Wouldn't Have Shot Anyone If He Were a Dog", and Evan Harper's "The Five Most Successful Heists in the Last 100 Years"

BEST INTERVIEW:

- Laura Massey's "Jamie Fletcher; Differences Across Western Cultures"

- Daniel Mikelonis' "Minister of Modification: The Flesh and Blood Spirituality of David Hahn"

- Sammie Le's "I Don't Think What I'm Doing Is So Bad As Long As I'm Happy": An Interview With A Sasaeng Fan"

- Sophie Perrault's "My Interview with Feminist Frequency's Anita Sarkeesian"

Honorable Mentions: Marian Fields' "Your EXCLUSIVE Hoppin' Backstage Pass At The Pouch Club", Aly Tharp's "Vegan Chef Matty Kime Tells it Like it is", Evan Harper's "Interview With Lucas Henry; What Can We Learn From A High School Teacher", Edward Kim's One On One With A B-Boy: Sammy Kim

BEST INDIVIDUAL VIDEO:

- Sophie Perrault's Here Is A Vid & It's Sealed With A Kiss

- Aly Tharp's "The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead"

- Sammie Le's I Hate WIndows Movie Maker

- Meghan Jones' "To The London Eye"

Honorable Mention: Cody Chavis' "Don't Hold It Against Me, Paying Homage to Britney Spears"

BEST EXTENDED GROUP FEATURE:

- Three Guys, A Girl, And A Blog "Sherman Serenity Group Provides Sobriety To Those In Need"

BEST GROUP PODCAST:

- While You Exist's "Colonialism without an Alibi": Peter Anderson on Apartheid, Africa and Education" and Selling Us to Us: Peter Anderson on Advertising, America and our Actions

BEST GROUP VIDEO:

- While You Exist's Smallapalooza Goes Big

Runner-Up: Three Girls, A Guy, And A Blog's "Skate Away From Friday Night Boredom"

If YouTube doesn't allow your video b/c of copyrighted music?

One student had trouble loading his video onto YouTube because it used music from Sony Entertainment, so another person suggested they upload it to Vimeo (another video hosting site). That's OK in the short term, but it all likelihood that may take it down there too. So another option would be to upload the video to your Facebook page and then use the advice here to embed the video into your blog.

JUST A REMINDER: Post your "voice" exercises from today and e-mail me your "idea sheets" from Tuesday!

TWO FRIENDLY REMINDERS:

1) Post your voice exercise from today's class onto your blogs. They do count as a grade and no one likes a zero.

2) If you haven't sent me the "thinking sheet" (ie. Tuesday's homework), here's a quick reminder of what it's supposed to have:

- a link to the story you want to work with
- a list of questions and ideas you have on this story (build a schema and follow your interests to see where they lead)
- 3 paragraphs at the end specifically explaining your personal connection to the material, where you think all your questions and thoughts are leading you (in terms of what you think the bigger idea/story is for you), and why other people should care about examining said issue.

Get these things in please as we will continue working with them tomorrow in class!

The New Intel Ad: An Example Of Why Multimedia Storytelling Is So Freakin' Cool

Hey all you cyber dorks! I'm not much for PCs, but you gotta love how this ad tells a story using so many different types of media. It really psyches me out in a media nerd sorta way.

WEEKEND INDIVIDUAL PROJECT: Future Plan and Kickstarter Proposal

This Friday by midnight I want you to submit both a Future Plan and a Kickstarter Proposal.

Your future plan should contain three 10-item lists for each of the following:

1) Ten important people working in your field of interest who you would like to contact for more networking or a possible job (include their full names, positions, and e-mail addresses)

2) Ten public/private events or places that you would like to visit so you can meet more people and do more research (list the event name, its location, and the date it will be held)

3) Ten additional activities you'd like to partake in for continued experiential learning in your field (be specific, list titles of films, books, classes, cities, or any activities you might consider )

Then I want you to write a 300-word proposal for Kickstarter a website where you can solicit funds for your projects. Imagine you are going to continue exploring your passion in a blog. What would you need and how much money would you need for it? Think big! Don't just ask for $20, ask for at least $100. Would you need to apply for new equipment? Travel expenses? Books? Website costs? Production costs for a film?

Although we won't be publishing your proposal on Kickstarter, here's the 3-paragraph format I'd like you to follow:

Paragraph 1 - What you want, how much it costs, and why you want it (be specific)

Paragraph 2 - How your project would help the greater community (whether that be your field, Austin College, or other people who share your demographic or interests)

Paragraph 3 - How you plan to repay the kindness of donors (what things could you offer people for donating different dollar amounts? Give names to each level and suggest specific incentives for their giving).

Take a look at Kickstarter for some ideas and start planning your future! I can't wait to see your ideas!

-----

Daniel Villarreal is a writer for Queerty.com, an adjunct professor for Austin College during Jan-Terms, and an aspiring author. You can check out his fledgling personal blog Hispanic Panic and follow him on Twitter @HispanicPanic79

Another Excellent Female Vlogger

A great video from mathe-musician Vi Hart (Facebook) that shows that you can make interesting and compelling vlog entries out of even boring algebra classes if you have some voice, some smarts, and some good ideas.

HOMEWORK: Yesterday's and Today's

YESTERDAY'S HOMEWORK (Story planning sheet): 3-5 pages. Due no later than 10am tomorrow.

In a MS Word document, I want you to:
- Post the link of a contemporary news article you're interested in commenting on
- Write out a bunch of questions and thoughts you have about the article and the issues involved (kinda like what we did with the haystack burning story from the Herald Democrat)
- Answer some of those questions and expand some of those thoughts by adding what you do know and any bits of interesting facts you find on the web.

Then at the end of the document, write three paragraphs about the following:
P1- Why the article personally matters to you (be specific)
P2 - What larger point you think you might make based on the questions and research you've currently done
P3 - Why the topic should matter to other people (a wider audience).

E-mail the word document to me.

TODAY'S HOMEWORK: (Video cast) due by midnight tonight

Keeping in mind the elements of photo composition and personal engagement on video (eye-contact, quick editing, comedy, scripting and voice) create a 1-3 minute podcast. When you're done, export it from iMovie using the SHARE menu. and saving it in MEDIUM 640 x 360 format. Then upload it to YouTube. Here's a video in case you don't know how.

All I really care about is that your video is as engaging as any of the examples we watched in class. Here are some of those videos below.

We didn't watch this one in class but it is a great example of how to do a show: Charlie is so Cool

How to Be a Bad Bitch

Equals Three's F*CKING BIRDS

Choia Makeup Tutorial

Idiot With A Tripod

How America Cheats the Cotton Trade

Chloe's Toast

Standardize your blog design & promotional stuff due

CONSISTENT PHOTO AND VIDEO SIZING
- for topmost image/video and for the side insets (look at the HTML guide on digiroo)
- decide what to do about captions (to have or to not?) and linking to the image source (you can either link the image itself or add a link at the bottom: ie. “Image via”)

ITALICIZE the titles of movies, magazines/blogs, books, and albums

PUT IN QUOTATIONS individual song/article titles

BOLD ELEMENTS:
- question in a Q&A
- intros of stories
- the most important facts

START RUNNING BYLINES AND BIOS WITH THUMBNAILS AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH STORY

------
BIO: Daniel Villarreal is a writer with Queerty.com. He is interested in free speech issues, desserts, and art films. You can follow him at @hispanicpanic79, or check out his Facebook

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS: (DUE MONDAY)
Photos of flier placement (minimum 7)
A blog post promoting your event (ad) – link
Images from your promotional stunt
Screen shots of any promo on Twitter or Facebook
A link to a post about the event with photos, summary, and thanks.

SNEAK PEAK: YOUR FINAL (now with Grand Prize!)

Hey folks. Here's your final, due Tuesday January 25th at 4pm.

Create your own blog using Blogger. It must have:
- a catchy name and background that encapsulates its content,
- a blogroll listing at least three of your favorite blogs, and
- a pageview counter.

On this blog you must create three posts:

1) An introductory post with all of the following:
- a dominant visual element
- at least one link
- a short article explaining what your topic is, why it matters to you, and why it might matter to other people. As always, specificity, voice, and cultural relevance all matter most in telling your story. Introduce yourself cleverly the way you might at a party when trying to get someone interested in you.

This introductory post must also contain ONLY ONE of the following three options:
- a well-composed, original and visually interesting photograph that you took relating to your blog's theme
- a well-produced 10- to 30-second podcast advertising your blog.
- a well-produced 10- to 30-second video advertising your blog.

2) A short article about a contemporary news article similar in structure to the last blogging assignment
- Include a dominant visual element and a link to the news article.
- Quickly summarize the news story, indicate why it matters to you, and why it should matter to other people.
- Keep your paragraphs short and try to do it in 150-300 words.

3) Your third post must be one of the following:
- a quickie (either a Caption This! a famous quotation, a viral video, a caption this, an advice column, a game, or whatever you like). Be sure to include a brief sentence or two on this feature and its purpose or relation to your blog. Or…
- a short news summary of the 1-2 punch variety. That is, first you summarize the story in one sentence or two (remembering to link to the material), then provide some very brief witty comment, quip, or assessment of the story.

PLEASE DO NOT POST MORE THAN THESE THREE ITEMS, as I would like all students to be on an equal playing field for judging.

When you are done, post the link on your group's blog, e-mail me the URL and you are done! Deadline is Tuesday at 4pm and you can begin work whenever you please.

Though I will grade your finals independently, a 3-person panel will choose the best blog of the class. First place will receive a 1st Generation 8GB iPod Touch (slightly used and scuffed but otherwise fully functional). I am currently looking into prizes for 2nd and 3rd place and will announce them soon.

GROUP PROJECT #2: Podcasts

2 podcasts
10-15 minutes each
each of your voices must be on it (handles or oversees a segment)
due Sunday at midnight

Listen to the entire This American Life - 20 Acts in 60 Minutes to get ideas on how you can package different types of radio stories into a short amount of time.

Each podcast must be broken up into different segments:
1. INTRO - name of podcast and blog and overview of content
2. INTERVIEW - 3 to 5 minutes in length
3. ADVERTISEMENT - for anything real or imagined (must last at least 30 seconds)
4. REVIEW or NEWS COMMENT - listen top Evan Harper's American Vandals 2 or Laura Massey's Green Dragon
5. OUTRO - name of podcast and blog

Each podcast must also have at least one instance of both pre-recorded music and natural sound recorded on site. I am listening for some consistency between the podcasts especially in terms of intro and outro. At least one segment should be repeated in both podcasts. The rest is up to you.

Remember, make it fun, engaging, and a delight to listen to.

Individual Assignment - INTERVIEWS

Due Monday by 10am (500 word minimum)

Conduct a minimum 5-question interview with the person of your choice. Be sure to begin your post with an INTRODUCTION that includes:

1) Who the person is - their name, job or defining work.
2) Why they are important to you - why you find their work interesting.
3) Why they might matter to other people - their social/cultural value or relevance.

Here are two examples of introductions (with passive voice and some needless personal info, but otherwise good).

As I said, your interview can either be a straight Q&A format or a combination of paraphrasing and direction quotation. All I ask is that if you choose the latter, please use transitions between paragraphs to help us understand the flow of conversation from one topic to the other.

Lastly, if you want an example of good types of interview questions that relate both to the interviewee's past work as well as the interviewer's perspective, check out these three examples.

Tonight's Homework: LISTICLE!!!

Tonight you're writing a listicle (minimum 500 words). A listicle is basically a top 5 list of issues around a certain topic. You can post it via article or podcast. Here's how I want you to format it.

HEADLINE should read "5 [your topic] and [your additional comment]"
Some examples:
- Elena Kagan's 7 Biggest Problems (And What To Do About Them)
- The 5 Worst Craigslist M4M Crime Stories
- 4 Types of Gay Websites Schools Should Block
- 5 Things We'll Miss After The Prop 8 Trial Ends
- The 5 Things London Pride Is Doing to Outshine Your City
- 5 Ways Facebook Places Is Bad For Gays (And How To Stop Them)
- Anti-Gay Laws Lead to Higher HIV Rates, And 4 Other Studies Leading to Fake Conclusions
- Don't Wait For Black Swan's December Premiere: Here's 5 Arty Lesbian Thrillers To Enjoy Now
- The 5 Worst Craigslist M4M Crime Stories
- Hey Dudes, Here's The 3 Gayest Surfing Movies Ever

FORMATTING: After the headline, I want you to write a subhead listing each item on your list by using h1 and h2 tags (learn how to use them here). After that, you should do one of the following:

1) Write a paragraph or two about the item in your list, why it's there, and how it relates to a larger issue. So, for example, let's say I'm doing top 5 movie robots and among my list of R2-D2, Johnny 5, The Terminator, and the woman from Metropolis, I also choose the robots from the film Batteries Not Included. In my write up for each famous robot, I might mention each movie, what it's about, what the robots look like, what role they play in the movie, and then maybe how people would've reacted to these robots in real life.

or

2) Examine each item in your list using sub-categories. Going with the Batteries Not Included idea again you could create a form for each item that asks--
WHEN DID THE MOVIE COME OUT?:
WHAT'S THE PLOT?:
WHAT DO THE ROBOTS LOOK LIKE?:
WHAT DO THEY DO?
HOW WOULD HAVE REAL PEOPLE REACTED TO THESE ROBOTS?

Each item in your list should be accompanied with a dominant visual element in the form of a movie or image. Also, each item should have at least one link in the write-up related to it.

Remember in all instances, it doesn't matter that you can put 5 items into a list. What matters is how they're all connected and how you relate each item to other social ideas and mediums outside of the items themselves. This is not just a list of stuff; this is a collection of cultural commentary on related items.

Call me if need be. Due by 10pm and if you need to, call me.

TONIGHT'S ASSIGNMENT: Creating a podcast!

Tonight's assignment is to make two podcasts between 1 and 3 minutes in length. One should involve you talking about something related to your topic and the second one is a "blank canvas" for you to do whatever you like, as long as it creates interesting, engaging audio.

It is due at midnight.

You should create something you'd be proud to share. Listen to this for ideas—This American Life's 20 Stories in 60 Seconds.

Make sure that you introduce yourself, your blog, and an overview of what you'll be discussing at the start of your podcast. Here are tips on how to make a good podcast These are the criteria by which you will be graded. Lastly, be sure to incorporate a secondary audio — either music, sound effects, or natural sound. You will be graded on how well you integrate this into your podcast.

If you have a Mac, you can download the free version of Audio Hijack Pro and use it to take music from the iTunes, Skype, QuickTime, and the web. There's also a free quickstart guide on how to use it. If you have a PC… err, any suggestions on good audio hijack programs? If so, leave them in the comments.

If you are on a PC and don't have Garage Band, you can download Audcacity and then watch and read tutorials on how to use it.

Remember to save your finished product as an MP3 and when you are done, login to Soundcloud and upload your file using the class account with the login info below:

login: digitalselfclass@gmail.com
password: digiroo1

Be sure to save the file with your blog name, your name, and the number 1 or 2. Also, when make sure to make the file DOWNLOAD ENABLED so we can take your track with us if we want. Lastly, when you are done uploading, copy the embed code and place the embed code for both tracks in your blog post. As usual, have a good headline, a dominant visual element, and a small bit of text telling us what you're podcast is about.

Have fun and good luck!

HTML How-To...

... now available. Happy coding!

Tonight's Assignment - Extended News Feature

300-1000 words
dominant visual element
3-5 links
due by midnight

Tonight I want you to take a contemporary news issue (include link) and explore an aspect of that issue via answering a specific question of your choosing.

So for example, in class we discussed the Tuscon shooting that happened this weekend. Several questions that came out of the discussion included: was the shooter mentally unstable? what role did violent video games play in his actions? did he use drugs? who were his victims and what kind of people were they?

As we did with the "news summaries" posted during class, I want you to create an engaging introduction to your story that summarizes the heart of the issue and then comments on it. Your comment on it should raise a question that you will explore for the rest of the article.

For example, my extended news feature on the Tuscon shooter could begin: "The Kotaku blog says that Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner played a lot of video games. It's not clear whether Loughner learned how to gun down 20 people by playing first-person shooters like Call of Duty and Halo, but the military has used similar games to train soldiers for years. Should we expect a new generation of video gamers to turn into deadly assassins or are such games are actually more harmless than we think? Psychological research points in both directions."

You see? I referenced the original article where I got my idea, explained how I came to my question, and then gave an idea of how I would go about exploring that question. Your lead should do the same.

The rest of the article should go about answering your questions by using different sources as support. In this way, this article is a bit like an academic paper, except shorter and more conversational. It's OK to end the article without a clear answer. The discussion is most important, not the conclusion.

Here are links to two of my articles that do the same thing:
Could HIV+ Muppet Kami Ever Move Into America's Sesame Street?
Why Are D.C.'s Gays Just Fine With The 'Vote on Marriage' Bus Ads?

This Week's Syllabus

TUESDAY Jan. 11th
In-class: ARTWAY C5 x2, 4, 5, 7
Writing leads and news summaries
Homework: ARTWAY C5 x1, 3, 8
INSIDE REPORTING 116-117 178-183
Extended news comment with 3-5 links

WEDNESDAY Jan. 12th
In-class: ARTWAY C5 x9, 10
Podcasting
Homework: ARTWAY read C6 and C7, do p. 133
INSIDE REPORTING 132-133, 136
Create your own mini-podcast

THURSDAY Jan. 13th
In-class: ARTWAY C6 x1, 2, 5, 9, 10
Voice, opinion, entertainment writing, and sidebars
Homework: ARTWAY C6 x3, 4, 8, C7 p. 123 and 125 (skip p. 124)
INSIDE REPORTING p. 124-125,
Top 5 Listicle

FRIDAY Jan. 14th
In-class: ARTWAY C7 p. 124, x7, 8, 9
Microbloggig, Local reporting and profile interviewing
Homework: ARTWAY C7 x1, 3, 4, 5, and 6
Read ARTWAY
Profile interview with someone in your field
Group Project: Podcast

Bring Inside Reporting To Class Today

We'll be working with Inside Reporting for story building, so bring your copy, eh?

Monday Night Homework

Read chapter 5 of The Artist's Way and do pages 100-103. Also do Chapter 4 exercises 6 and 7.

Monday Presentations

Here's an outline of how Monday Presentations will go:

We will do morning pages as always, then I'll choose a group at random to go first. Each group will have about 15 minutes to present.

The editor should start by mentioning their picks for top 3 and bottom 3 blog posts FROM THEIR BLOG ONLY. For the top 3, point out what specifically makes their entries the best. For the bottom 3, say what concrete steps the writer could have taken to make their work stronger. Be sure to pull out concrete instances of where the posts succeed or fail with specific steps for revision.

Then, individually each member of the team should present:
- a summary of their project's content
- a quick iteration of the work that went into creating the project (including who did what)
- the challenges faced while creating the post and how the team dealt with those challenges
- what the team would change if given the chance to redo or edit the piece.

After that, each team will sit for a 10-15 minute student-lead open-floor Q&A.

Remember to read each team's post before class and to bring specific questions for each team's Q&A. Your participation, questions, and criticisms are an important part of the process.

Looking forward to it! Good luck teams!

GROUP PROJECT #1: In-depth feature

It's a local feature/review (1000 words minimum - 3000 maximum). Due Sunday by midnight.

I cannot stress enough that before y0u begin reading you should read Inside Reporting's excellent primer on FEATURE WRITING pages 115-125 and INTERVIEWING Inside Reporting pages 74-82.

Remember, tell a story! If you want two examples of how to do it, you can read my feature on singer Justin Utley, my feature on drag performer Christeene or Israel Luna's Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives. (NOTE: My editor added an intro to the last two stories. My lead actually begins one or two paragraphs after his. Follow my lead, not his).

Here's the criteria:
- 1000 minimum-1500 words maximum
- On a local spot.
- minimum of 2 interviews (one of them cannot be a student)
- At least 3 links
- You must present 5 photos
- create one sidebar or infographic

MINI-GROUP PROJECT (due MONDAY): Use photoshop to personalize your blog with some visual flair with a nameplate, customized colors, and icons for each writer. Then using your blog's color scheme and nameplate fonts, design a flier promoting your blog in a style that conveys its intended tone/audience. Be sure to prominently mention the URL and what your blog is about.

Use the fliers and word of mouth to invite readers to take part! ("We wanna hear from you!" "Join the conversation!" "See what everyone's talking about!"). Bring a copy of the flier to the Monday presentation.

Reading Assignment for Thursday

So sorry this is late

READING: - Inside Reporting: Chapters 3 and 4

ARTWAY Chapter 3 exercises 1, 2, 3, 4

Are Blogger's Glitches Making You Angry?

UPDATE: According to Sophie Perrault, "You need to go into the [Blogger] settings and switch back to the old text editor. The updated one isn't working." Thanks, Sophie!

Several people have notified me that Blogger hasn't been working for them, not allowing them to post. This happens.

The first thing you should do is try reposting using a different internet browser and/or computer if you have one. If that doesn't work, contact your editor and the other members of your staff. Put your name at the bottom of your complete post and then call them and see if they can publish it for you. If you're trying to upload a picture and it won't go, e-mail them the image or the image URL and see if they can handle it.

If you are still unable to post after reaching out to your staff, contact me and I will see what we can do. Despite the problems the 10pm deadline still applies. It's part of the game, part of the real hustle and flow of blogging, and you should do all you can to meet it. I will understand if Blogger's acting nutty, but try and sort it out best you can and only after all else fails contact me.

Best,
Daniel

Tonight's Homework And Reading

READ: Artist's Way Chapter 3 do the exercise on page 73
READ Newspaper Designer's Handbook Chapter 6 (pages 150-182)

Homework 1: HAVE AN ARTIST'S DATE!
Make a small blog entry about C2 x4 and x9 and what you're gonna do about them. Take photos—your final post must include 3 small photos. Try to go for a sequence and don't let their taking interfere with your enjoyment. Also you don't have to be in any of them if you don't want. Write up a small thing about what you did to foster your creativity and post it online.

Remember, make us care by telling us a story about why what you did matters so deeply to you or how your renewing activity connects to a larger cultural context ("I wanted to cook because I used to cook with my mother when I was a child; we'd make feasts of leftovers— combining cold pasta with Monday's cut steak. Cooking by myself reminds me of her). In making us care, tell us why it's really important or what you actually think about your relationship to the images.

Try to talk while you type for a natural voice.

MINI-GROUP PROJECT (due MONDAY): Use photoshop to personalize your blog with some visual flair with a nameplate, customized colors, and icons for each writer. Then using your blog's color scheme and nameplate fonts, design a flier promoting your blog in a style that conveys its intended tone/audience. Be sure to prominently mention the URL and what your blog is about.

Use the fliers and word of mouth to invite readers to take part! ("We wanna hear from you!" "Join the conversation!" "See what everyone's talking about!") Post your fliers around campus in each residence hall, the sub, the library, and departmental buildings and take pictures to bring on Monday conference as proof of our strategy. We'll gauge how successful your team's campaign in by new commenters and page views over the next week—so talk your blog up to people and get them clicking!

CLASS AWARDS: Best Of Day 2!

BEST HEADLINES: Succinct mini-summaries that convey the story's action/most important information as well as the stance of the writer.

Liann Harris' Andy Dick Adds "Arrested Development" To His "Almost" Repertoire

Aly Tharp's Bird Cults Committing Mass Suicides in Three States

Laura Massey's Fried Armadillo, Your New Favorite…

Runners-Up: Evan Harper's How Do You Help An Addict In Handcuffs?

Marian Field's President Obama Declares Democracy To Be The Key Ingredient To A Sweeter Africa

Honorable Mention: Nikhil Patel's Blizzard Infested Traveling - Go To New York, You Stay In New York

BEST NEWS ROUND-UP: Summarized news items succinctly and well while picking ones that deal specifically with their topic.

Brittany Lafollett's Feast On This: Good use of colored bolded links to anchor the items and great summaries, though her "horse meat" image was a little hard to read.

Evan Harper's Noir Round Up: Who knew there was so much current news about the noir genre?

Maxon Foster-McAlpine's AUX CALL PRESS SELECT: I don't get the headline at all, but he's really working a bunch of different sources from his Google Reader feeds and the blog's new easier-to-see purple links help anchor his news items.

Runner-Up: James Eastman's The Dub Files - A News Round Up - I'm not crazy about the large photos, or numbering but the images are hilarious and yet again a great link collection on a very specialized topic that leads to different sites.

BEST COMMENTARY: Makes an original argument using the blogger's first-hand knowledge to further their argument.

Amy Harvey's Skinning A Squeaker For A Sombrero - Amy spins a great argument against animal cruelty laws from a weird new's story that could have upstaged a less clever writer.

Sammie Le's K-Pop or K-Pedophilia? - Sammie continues to show her promise by unapologetically suggesting that only pedophiles would like shitty music made by kids.

Evan Harper's How Do You Help An Addict In Handcuffs? - Evan uses his knowledge of addiction to criticize a new approach to criminal drug rehabilitation. His ideas on what should be done (and some passive voice editing) would have strengthened his piece even more.

Runner-Up: Daniel Mikelonis' Hopes Risen Overall for the Future but Dashed Today Thai Plastic Surgeons - Horrible headline, but a very funny story with (GASP!) original reporting. Very cool.

Honorable Mention: Katherine Bosler's Who wants to win the lottery? - Though the headline hardly doesn't work as a summary, she does make a good argument that a Swedish program rewarding safe drivers may not be the best use of money.

BEST VOICE: Engaging, conversational, informative, never boring, and with almost no passive voice.

Brittany Lafollett's Playing Ketchup: Funny, vulnerable, a great story and gives a great sense of what she'll be covering and (more importantly) why it matters.

Maxon Foster-McAlpine's Harmonix Suffers Headshot By Being Bought Out For Only $49.99: If you've ever wanted to hear a gamer shit-talk about business news, this is a great place to start.

Honorable Mention: Aly Tharp's Bird Cults Committing Mass Suicides in Three States - it starts off strong, though the extended cult metaphor starts to get muddled at the end.

The War On Terror in 1776

As we'll see today, your perspective on American history depends on where you stand. Take the American Revolution, for instance—an enlightened rebellion? an act of terrorism? or just another excuse for the French to make out with each other?

WARNING: Video involves swearing, blatant stereotypes, oral sex, and gay jokes... kinda like our class discussions.

Having Trouble Hunting Down Blogs Related To Your Topic?

Finding blogs related to your topic and adding their RSS feeds to your Google Reader will make coming up with story ideas infinitely easier. Here's two suggestions to improve your search: try Googling "(your topic) blogs" on Google or sign up for a free account at StumbleUpon. I have not yet used StumbleUpon but several students say it's a great way to find very specific websites that will match your interests.

Happy hunting!

Tonight's Homework And Reading

The syllabus will be out tomorrow without fail. But in the meanwhile... here's tonight's assignments (due by 10pm) and reading:

WRITE A NEWS COMMENT (300 words max)

Link to a contemporary news story and in the first paragraph summarize that story, giving some indication of your stance on the issue. Be sure to include an attention-grabbing headline that summarizes the story and a dominant visual element. You must include 2 links (one linking to the original story, and one linking to a related issue). Then end your story with a comment, preferably one of the following:

- your opinion on the matter (the President should have pressure Congress to pass this earlier because...)

- your analysis of the news items' significance (the law will also effect more than just the soldiers, but also military personnel who train recruits and those who issue benefits)

- how it relates to another topic (the sci-fi take on artificial intelligence is especially interesting considering how AI robots have begun performing surgeries)

- what might happen next (the convenience store clerk could face assault and battery charges, unless he can prove that he acted in self-defense).

you can be witty and conversational about your comment, but also try to make it an intelligent commentary that ADDS to the conversation.

Here are three examples of my own news commentary:
-At G20, Toronto Police Are Separating the Gays For 'Their Own Safety'

- The DMV Hates You And Your Lesbian Wedding

- How Syrian Police Can Keep Gays Locked Up: Threatening Families Who Want to Bail Them Out

AND THE READING:
- The Artist's Way: Chapter 2 (complete exercises 3, 4, and 6)
- The Newspaper Designer's Handbook: Chapter 4 - Graphics and Sidebars

Don't forget to comment on other people's blog posts and to promote your work through Facebook and Twitter. Also, start thinking about what on-campus event your group wants to promote. If you haven't visited the Campus Activities Board to pick an event yet DO IT ASAP!

How To Write A News Round-Up!

Here's four examples of short news round-ups. Imitate your favorite!

The Seattle Stranger

Tabloid Prodigy

Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish

Towleroad

DAY 1 AWARDS! Best of Class Blogging

I initially said I'd only post the top 3 best stories here, but our first round had so many great features, I thought I'd share the best of each for your educational value:

BEST HEADLINE - Summarizes the story while giving an idea of the overall article's stance.

roses are red, violets are blue, @selenagomez if you'll break @justinbieber's heart I'm gonna kill you : by Kara Murphy

BEST BREVITY - Made their point in a succinct style, wasting few if any words.

roses are red, violets are blue, @selenagomez if you'll break @justinbieber's heart I'm gonna kill you : by Kara Murphy

BEST NARRATIVE - Engages the reader by relating a personal story.

Her Bare Feet by Rebecca Jones
Runners-Up: PIGS by Laura Massey
I'm Like Everyone Else by Daniel Mikelonis

Honorable Mention: Passionate Prevention by Kate Bossler

BEST SPECIFICITY - Concrete details conveyed a strong sense of the writer and their obsession with the topic.

My World Is Spinning by Edward Kim
Runner-Up: Now Say That In Future Tense by Aly Tharp

BEST VOICE - Maintained a conversational style that engages readers with emotion and feeling.

The Spice of the Melting Pot: Black Spice by Marian Fields
Runner Up: K-Pop Tastic by Sammie Le

BEST LINKING - Made great use of linking to other material while also letting readers know what to expect once they click over.
My World Is Spinning by Edward Kim

BEST COMMENT - Added to the discussion by addressing the author's argument and offering new information.

Maxon's comment on Evan' Harper's How To Make It In America
Runner Up: Sophie's Comment on Daniel Mikelonis' Not So Different Than You

Size Matters: Connections Big And Small

Today we noted how similar in appearance neural networks are to a view of all the universe's galaxies. Well here's a video illustration of how such interconnected systems permeate our world on every scale. It's all about connections.

Universes exist in our minds and in the cosmos above. Makes you think twice about Plato's theory of "theomania." Are the nerve cells of artists truly infused with the energy of the heavens? Or was Malcolm Gladwell right? After all, we only know how neurons and galaxies look because of geniuses who spent over 10,000 hours working on seeing them.

The Class Blogs Are Here!

Here are the blogs and the RSS feeds to add them to your Google Reader. Also remember to read everyone's posts, comment on at least one, and make a note of which posts are your most and least favorite (and why):

Our Modern Gush
feed://ourmoderngush.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Three Guys A Girl and A Blog
feed://threegirlsaguyandablog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Text Appeal
feed://text-appeal.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Mungo Estate
feed://mungoestate.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

While You Exist
feed://whileyouexist.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

TEAM ALERT! Give Me Your Team Blog URLs!

I forgot to mention in class, please send me your team blog URLs as soon as you create them. The URL is the web address, like ilikeicecreamwow.blogspot.com. As soon as I have them all, I will post them on this blog so you can add them to your Google reader and look over your classmate's entries before class tomorrow.

Just use my e-mail address to send them to me. Thanks!

Sharing Your Blogs & Your Passions

Tonight's assignment is to write a 300-word introductory post that explains your passion and how you plan on exploring it. But an exciting headline and dominant visual element aren't enough to captivate readers. You need to come out of the gate strong with something that will grab their interest and give them a reason to care. Here are a few suggestions to help make your piece even stronger:

1) Don't start with self-introduction. Instead start with the most compelling fact you know about your topic or a story that explains why you're so into it.

2) Be brief. Most people read only one sentence before deciding whether or not to continue reading. Don't go on and on. Simply state why you think it's interesting, what you plan on covering and end it.

3) Be specific. Writing "K-pop is fun and relevant to American culture and I plan on posting K-pop videos and articles," is an empty and meaningless phrase that reeks of vagueness, vacuity, and no plan. Instead write "Korean pop culture is invading America! From Korean style BBQ to awesome Korean action films like Oldboy, I'll update you the latest Korean pop-trends, wild fashions (like the neon "loose-socks" craze), and tell you where you can find K-culture close to home."

See the differences between those two sentences? Geek out. Be specific. Get someone interested in your topic ASAP by telling them what ONLY YOU can deliver.

REMINDER: Tonight's reading is The Artist's Way chapter 1 and Inside Reporting chapters 1 & 2. Also, in The Artist's Way, you must complete Chapter 1 exercise 8 ("Imaginary Lives"). Remember to put your reflective exercises in the same folder as your journal so I can grade them when you turn them in on Monday.

Have You Looked At The Syllabus And This Other Cool Stuff?

You can download the class syllabus here. I will soon post an updated version.

And did you remember to watch the 11-minute video on education, read Andrew Sullivan's "Why I Blog", and the article entitled "7 Essential Skills You Didn't Learn In College"?

They're not just fun—they're mandatory!