And So the Stress Begins…

I’m assuming everyone is loaded down with assignments, projects, finals, meetings, and everything else that life and school has handed to us. I just wanted to wish everyone luck on the finals and give them a reason to smile!

Hope these help!

Ambient Findability

First off, what is findability? To me, findability is the ability to locate someone efficiently and effectively. Throughout technology today, there are many genres in which findability takes place. For example, you use findability when you “check-in” somewhere on your smart phone.

Twitter and facebook both have tools that you can adjust on your smartphones that let people state the location that they are posting from.

So what’s the use? Simple. Morville discusses this in his book. By making themselves accessible, people are able to locate them more effectively. For example, if you used the smart phone “check-in” tool at the mall and one of their friends was at the mall too. Their friend would then possibly locate them or be able to connect with them. However, if neither of them knew they were there, they might not ever connect. 

The Future is Now

Every time a new gadget or technology tool comes out, my dad makes a reference to Star Trek. When skype came out, my dad was like, "People use to dream of this stuff! I remember when I was a kid and Star Trek was on.." So when reading Ambient Findability, I couldn't help but think, I'm living the future of generations before me. Some things that seemed so far away, I am experiencing now.

It's hard for me to think about the future because we currently have SO many advances in technology. But I do think there will be more tools to use. For example, watching CSI, you see a lot of potential technological advances. Holographic touch screen computers being one of them.

Comparing technology from 5 years ago to now seems crazy! The cell phones, computers, tvs, and everything have completely changed. It's going to be exciting to live in this technological age and see what else manifests in the next five years.

My Thoughts on Daylight Savings

Okay, so daylight savings time started this week. I miss the days when Indiana was an exception and didn't partake in the useless time change. I understand that it gives us more light in the morning, but what about as a whole? I mean, it's getting dark by the time I get out of class most days. So for me, and I'm assuming most college students, it's not too beneficial.

Not to mention, when we do change the clocks, a lot of people are so confused. I showed up early to a few things this week, not that it's a bad thing, it's just frustrating. Not to mention, my sleeping schedule is completely off. Hmph.

Thanksgiving Traditions

With the Holidays approaching, I wanted to start thinking about and discussing my families traditions on Thanksgiving. I have a rather large family and when we get together for the holidays, it’s like we never moved away from each other. Right now, both of my sisters are married to marines and are stationed in North Carolina, I am at school, and my brother has also moved away. Getting together for the holidays is one of the very few times that we are able to all get back together at the same time.

Each year we have the same food; turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, au gratin potatoes, stuffing, green beans, corn, and sweet potatoes. Then there is the dessert, my grandma’s specialty; pumpkin pie, cheese cake, peanut butter pie, and whatever else she comes up with! I usually take it easy and make the puppy chow.

Every Thanksgiving, my grandma insists we name the turkey. However, it usually is Tom, Bob, or George (she’s really creative). After we eat, we sit around, laugh, watch football, and just enjoy each other’s company. To us, it’s all about family, and that’s what I’m most thankful for. 

Lupton

When reading text, we have found ways to interpret it in our ways. For example, in Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton, she states “A word set in ALL CAPS within running text can look big and bulky, and A LONG PASSAGE SET ENTIRELY IN CAPITALS CAN LOOK UTTERLY INSANE.” Because, as readers, we interpret text that is in all capitals is considered yelling or shouting.

So who decided this was how we conveyed shouting at each other via text? By using different texts like capitals, italics, etc., we have the opportunity to convey texts in a completely different way. It’s intriguing to think that text can be altered in such a way that changes our perception of its meaning.