Arkyd: A crowdsourced satellite

http://techland.time.com/2013/05/30/arkyd-is-a-crowdfunded-orbital-space-telescope-you-can-control/

I saw this today and like the 3d printed food article I just couldn't ignore it. I have been stalking the tech section of google news lately and this is just what happens. But there is a major space craft company that has created a kick starter to put a satellite up in space that gives access to students and just people in general. I just think this is super cool and felt like it was awesome enough that I had to share it. You can contribute to the kickstarter here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1458134548/arkyd-a-space-telescope-for-everyone-0 I'm actually really obsessed with kickstarter it is just such a cool idea that has been used to fund so many really incredible projects.

EDIT: there are also Arkyd infographics I mean what's not to love

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How news must adapt for modern technology.

stateofthemedia.org/2013/digital-as-mobile-grows-rapidly-the-pressures-on-news-intensify/

The state of the media 2013 reports by journalism.org include a lot of really interesting articles about

problems facing modern journalists. It is definitely a long read but I have included the pictures because I 

think they summarize the article well. The graphs speak for themselves and if you don't have time to read

the article you should definitely check out these graphs.

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The importance of social media during a tragedy.

The idea for this post has come to my mind too many times recently. I'm not sure if this era has caused more tragedies or if it is publicising them more but modern journalism seems to rely heavily on tragic events. One of my teachers was talking about some information she had learned from a seminar on how to act during a school shooting. She said that we should stay off all social media and resist posting what is going on to twitter and to not try to contact any of your loved ones in order to keep the phone lines clear. And I agree with that...to a point. I agree that it probably smarter to resist calling people/the police in order to keep the radio towers clear. But if you have taken a picture or feel your life is in danger or have vital information regarding the incident I believe it is important to post it or share it somewhere. It is always important to stay safe and protect yourself before using social media. Social media connects us and allows people to share their vantage points on whatever they are doing and this is never more important than when people are killed or are in immediate danger. The internet holds so much information that could be really important to the officials trying to solve this crime. I believe that using social media to share info about a tragedy is a good thing

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Infographics

I don’t know about this class but in english we are supposed to treat wikipedia like the gritty underbelly of the internet. However, I feel that you can find a lot of important information on wikipedia so this post is going to be all of the really important/interesting things I find on the infographics wikipedia page.

“In 1626, Christoph Scheiner published the Rosa Ursina sive Sol, a book that revealed his research about the rotation of the sun; Infographics appeared in the form of illustrations demonstrating the Sun’s rotation patterns.”

It is commonly believed that cave dwellers were the first infographic creators, I think that is really cool but Christoph’s creations were the first infographics like the ones created today. Other early infographic creators include Florence Nightingale and Carl Ritter.

Nightingales infographic which was presented to Queen Victoria.

The Pioneer Plaque

Infographics were even created to communicate with aliens! Visual data representation is truly universal. It is so cool to consider that as humans we can create something that can, hopefully,  be understood by an extraterrestrial.

Infographics became more popular in the 20th century. “In 1972 and 1973, respectively, the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 spacecraft included on their vessels the Pioneer Plaques, a pair of gold-anodized aluminum plaques, each featuring a pictorial message. The pictorial messages included nude male and female figures as well as symbols that were intended to provide information about the origin of the spacecraft. The images were designed by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake and were unique in that their graphical meanings were to be understandable to extraterrestrial beings, who would have no conception of human language.”

Washington DC Metro Map

This picture made me realize I have an infographic hanging in my house.

The Tate Gallery By Tube

This is a picture of the image that is hanging in my house I honestly never even realized that this could be considered an infographic but it is pretty cool.

“Closely related to the field of information graphics is information design, which is the creation of

infographics. Author and founder of the TED, Richard Saul Wurman, is considered the originator of the phrase "information architect" and many of his books, such as Information Anxiety, helped propel the phrase "information design" from a concept to a job category.”

This was actually really cool to find out. It connects two of my favorite parts of my studies this year, and reminds me that I never have time to watch Ted videos lately which sucks.

*I tried to get all of the images on here instead of the links but my laptop froze whenever I tried to insert them*

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Technology Free Day

So on Wednesday we had a technology free period. I didn't really want/like it at the time because I actually had a plan for a post, they will come next week. Anyways I decided to draw a infographic about basically nothing because I was planning on making one already. But I like the idea of having a tech free day. It promotes communication on a deeper level than normal. If this happens again I think we should have some sort or warning so that we can have a good plan for the day.

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Internet Addiction

Is internet addiction real?
This infographic is really applicable to me and a lot of the people in this class. The loafing happens a lot but I feel that a small addiction can help us a lot. We all spend a ton of time on the internet but how we use it is all different. The internet is a double edged sword and in this class I try my hardest (most of the time) to stay on track.

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Blog Design Update

I have updated the top headings and most of the pictures so that all the stuff I have posted is adequately organized. There is also a list of tabs on the side which has anything I may have missed. When I post things sometimes they get put in weird places/timeslots so I am sorry if it looks like I have posted things at weird times.

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Beware Online Filter Bubbles

So I wasn't going to post a full-on analysis of this Ted talk but It did what it intended to, it made me think. The ides of having computers decide, with great accuracy, what I like and what I may like in the future is weird yet very cool. News websites aren't the only services that do this. From Pandora to Target modern life has become so wrapped up in what you want now. This helps you with getting people what you, think you, need at a better cost to you. However this technique removes much of the opportunity for creativity and finding new exciting things.I feel like these techniques should be regulated but this could easily be a sticky situation. I just hope that the internet remains a, somewhat, open place where people can express their beliefs, concerns, and qualms with the world.

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Tools For Creating Infographics

20+ Tools to Create Your Own Infographics

10 Tools for Creating Infographics and Visualizations

10 Fun Tools To Easily Make Your Own Infographics

So I originally found the last article I posted but as I tried to find it tonight I stumbled upon the other two. I felt like it would be good to include these as well. In the future I plan on integrating more "homemade" infographics into my blog as well as my new family project so these programs will hopefully be very useful. I definitely credit the apps I use in each infographic.

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The History and Impact of Infographics

I was going to write a great post about how this infographic relates to my "people like reading information more when presented in an infographic"  theory but I have been sitting at the computer for half an hour and everything I type is awful. Nevertheless this is a pretty self explainable infographic.  People like to see pictures so they share them with their friends and so on and so forth. 

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Journalism Analysis Project: Beginning

In this post I am going to explain this mythical journalism project I have been hinting at and have made a page for. So far this year I have explored some of the characteristics of modern news. Now I plan to compare modern news sources, ways the news is presented, and whether print journalism produces news similar to all digital formats.
A common thread has been found in each article, and report I have chosen. They are all reports on the events of the Newtown shooting. I chose this topic because it has had a great impact on modern life and was reported on my many sources.
I have saved a newspaper, several online articles, infographics, and videos that have this topic. In the end I hope to have a better understanding on the quality of different publications, and the medias in which they present news; whether it is wise to still directly pay for news in the modern age; as well as which forms of media provide the most in depth, balanced, knowledgeable news.

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Cool Infographics

http://www.coolinfographics.com/
Cool info graphics really lives up to its name. This website collects and  displays a ton of info graphics from a variety of topic. I love how so much can be presented in this format. Utilizing info graphics is an important aspect in modern news as it brings a lot of information to the public in a way which is visually appealing and interesting to the viewer. I will definitely be posting new things I find on coolinfographics.com. 

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Raising Prices on Mobile Subscriptions

The following is an article I wrote for my group writing blog thirdquartet.blogspot.com. I'm focusing on displaying the theme through the "narrators" thoughts on the topic. I tried to tie this writing into my analysis project which will begin next week. In the article I attempted to keep a structure similar to that used in news articles. A more in depth analysis of this work and the work of my group mates will be posted next week.
_______________________________________________________________________________
This week it has been reported that The New York Times may be significantly increasing its subscription prices for mobile readers. It unclear whether or not this change will be implemented but if it is this change could mark a significant change for the publication.
Many factors could be attributed to this change; costs are being cut to compensate for lack of revenue, and as more and more people are getting their news online it can be important to benefit from this format.
Although I agree that if subscription based news is better than its free counterparts it deserves to come at a price. The problem comes when the same content is found on both free and priced news publications. If the New York Times rises their subscription fee but does not provide superior services its readership will certainly go elsewhere for its news.
Many people are not willing to pay to obtain news content. More and more news is in fact free and the sites that provide the best free content are getting more viewers. If the New York Times raises its mobile subscription cost the people who were willing to pay for it might consider going elsewhere.

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Snow Fall

This  article  by the New York Times is a great display of what digital media can, and should do. It mixes characteristics of print and digital media really well.

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Mobile News Demographics

via: journalism.org

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Gadget Infographic

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Digital Revolution

I really like these infographics....I will probably post more soon. They display information better than writing, especially for more visual learners.

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Modern Journalism Infographic

The PEW research center had a competition of sorts to display the data from the modern news study. Here is the winning one. This is a cool way to demonstrate the analysis I had posted a while back in a new way.

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The Future Of Mobile News

The Future Of Modern News

I can really relate to this article because, like the majority of americans, I am basically attached at the hip to my various moble devises. Falling into the 50% that own both a tablet and smartphone, I am hardpressed to find remember times during my day when I'm not on one or the other. The influx of technology in my life has really had almost all positive effects. I am able to take in more information, faster, than ever before. Adressing the problem of users mostly utilizing these features at home, I'm just to scared to go over the mobile data limit to use my phone constantly. But thats only attributed to verizon forcibly taking away my unlimited data.

In summary this study says:

• The advent of the new lower-priced tablets in late 2011 brought in a new crop of tablet owners. 

• Rather than replacing old technology, the introduction of new devices and formats is creating a new kind of "multi-platform" news consumer.

• There is growing evidence that mobile devices are adding to how much news people get. 

• People who get news on both a smartphone and a tablet may carry added appeal for news organizations. 

• Similarly, those who get news throughout the day on their mobile devices are more engaged news consumers

• Two distinct news audiences have emerged on tablets-new-found digital customers and customers who also remain loyal to the print product.

• People notice ads on mobile devices and may be even more likely to click on them than they are to click on other digital ads. There has been movement over the last year toward using the browser rather than apps for tablet news consumption. 

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Youtube News Channels

I know I already posted about this topic but I think, that like I did with news websites, I should post a list of good youtube news sources. Each of these also provide links to other channels in partnership with the ones posted.

ABCNews

Source Fed

What's Trending

wgn

CNN

Of course these are no where near all of the channels you can find on youtube providing news. These are just a few of what I consider to be the best.

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