Going into this class at the beginning of the semester I was pretty scared for what was ahead of me. All I heard was how hard and demanding the class was. But it turns out I really enjoyed it a lot.  My professor was right, If you knew your theme early on and kept up with the interviews and assignments, then the class was pretty manageable. I really enjoyed doing the interviews for my theme because I love animals so much.  I got so lucky with being able to find such amazing people to interview!  I wouldn’t change a thing about the project. I think three text modules, a slideshow, graphic, and introduction is a perfect amount for the semester. Also, I think that the first text module should continue to be due early on. It helped set the tone for the rest of the semester and really helped me start looking early on. 

I really did not ever mind doing the blog posts every week. They were pretty easy and are definitely something that should be kept. It’s actually kind of fun to post my opinion about something every week.

I liked doing the critique of “The Whale Hunt” as well. I also enjoyed being able to see all the other multimedia package in class because it was pretty entertaining and a great way to see all the possibilities there are when making a website. It should be kept around as well! I think it helps students brainstorm all the different things they can do with their projects! It’s also nice to have a mix-up in class. Focusing on the same topic every week can get kind of overwhelming and I liked how every week we had a different project to look at!

Overall, I enjoyed this class a lot! It’s so important future students stay on top of their project and try to get as many interviews done as soon as possible! It makes life a lot easier! 

I found numerous blogs about hunters who use pigeons during the off-season to help train their dogs. It sounds pretty harsh, but they do what they have to do in order to keep their dogs well trained.

This particular blog explains the use of working with pigeons in bird dog training drills. The owner releases the birds and they usually fly back home, and they are apparently very cheap to buy.  It doesn’t seem like most owners value working with these birds that much, which is sad. This blogger even said he shoots one or two pigeons every so often if he knows they are going to die soon anyway. This way the dogs can retrieve them and get rewards in return.  That made me cringe a little to be honest.

Anyway, two weeks ago I conducted my FINAL interview for this project!! I interviewed a Baltimore County Policeman, Christopher Strevig. He let me see, first-hand, a training procedure he does with his German Sheppard, Jett. I was pretty scared the whole time.

I was in the fenced area with the dog, Strevig and another policeman, Corporal Michael Stricker, who was in the bite suit. They allowed me to stand behind them the whole time, literally face-to-face with the dog. It was a amazing and scary experience. I am so glad the Baltimore County Police Department allowed me to do this!  It was awesome!!!!

A article in The Washington Post  was published, Heal! The Power of Pets. It was a heart-warming story about a group of women who created a non-profit organization called Critters for the Cure. The article touched briefly on each woman and her battle with cancer, as well as how their pets made the process better.

These incredible women created this organization to help others like them. They offer to pay vet bills to those in need because they understand how important it is to have a pet.  In the article, the women were gathered together to produce a calendar. They hoped to raise money in order to support other women battling cancer, as well as to bring awareness to the importance of having pets at such a time. 

It really made you feel like having an pet is very important to those who may be ill. However, I believe it is just as important to have an animal, sick or not, in your life everyday. They really do make a difference. The article just proves my point, pets are more than just pets. They make a daily impact on people. The impact  created is so great it helps their owners overcome huge obstacles.   

Anyway, the semester is almost over and this project is pretty much halfway done! I am still in the process of finding my fourth module for the multimedia package. However, I finally got into contact with a police officer that has a trained dog that he works with everyday! He just has to approve meeting with me with his higher authorities. So hopefully that can work out for my last module! I’m pretty excited to go and meet him actually! 

I came across a blog post this weekend, which talked about a multiple of stories about animals that contribute to society in some way or another.  My favorite part was about the new puppy the Streetsboro Police Department got to start training as an official K-9 police dog. He looked so cute!!

Another interesting part on this blog was a post about a library that brings dogs in to help children excel in reading. The dogs are certified “therapy dogs,” and they listen to children read to them. This is such a great opportunity for kids because it is proven that the practice actually helps!

Like I said before, I love finding posts and stories like this!! It’s so great to see that so many people involve their pets in their daily lives. Not only is it great to see the use of animals when helping others, but also it’s even better to see that there is a significant impact these animals bring to people’s lives.

This week I have been trying to reach an agreement with Mrs. Nowakowski to meet so I finish my last module, but she’s pretty busy, so I have started to go down different routes. I have been emailing and calling different barns in Maryland where they perform therapy riding lessons. Hopefully I have better luck with them! 

Having Amy Novak as a guest speaker in my Writing for New Media class last Wednesday was definitely worthwhile. Her insight to the journalism field, as well as difficulties with running a small team with huge projects really put things into perspective for me. This area of expertise defiantly requires hard work and a lot of it.

It was pretty funny to find out that she went to college for a completely different area: History. How do you go from History to Journalism?? Well she managed to find a different passion in journalism through her internship with a documentary company.

However, I think my favorite part about her visit was her stories about working for http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com as a local community editor. It was interesting, yet kind of comforting to hear that the small town she worked in mainly cared about what was going on in their local schools, sports, town, etc. Hearing that somewhere out there in the world, people care more about what’s going on in their community,  instead of something stupid is a breath of fresh air.

It was also funny to hear that so many people call in and complain about why this was said or why this wasn’t said, people really seem to care about who is publicized and how they are publicized in that town.

Novak was just pretty entertaining overall, she knew what she was talking about, had a lot of great opinions and recommendations of what to do and what not to do. It was great to hear that the more you know about html in general the more you are likely to find a job, finally I’m taking a class that will actually help my career! (haha)

Brian Stelter is going to be a guest speaker in my journalism class tomorrow and here are some questions I made for him:

1.  What made you so passionate about blogging? Why did you even start in the first part? Would you consider it addictive?

2.  What do you enjoy doing more, blogging or writing for the NY Times?

3. How would you recommend someone who wants to be noticed for blogging go about it?

4.  Was there anything in particular that made you interested in writing and blogging, or was it just a natural ability like you said in a past interview?

5.  Do you think you would be where you are today if you never started blogging in college?

6.  It was said in an article that you were hired by NY Times to contribute to the papers integration of print and online coverage in hopes of making some of your blog posts news stories, can you give some examples of this?

7.  How do you feel knowing that the top of the line business executives read your blog religiously?

8.  How do you find time to post so much? What factors are there that make a story or tip good enough to become a part of your daily posts in your blog? 

           Last week I talked to a woman by the name of Lisa Nowakowski who puts on enviroshows anywhere and everywhere. I have yet to go meet with her, but we are in the process of setting that up. I hope to use all the pictures I take in my multimedia package because I feel like this would make a more colorful and interesting story rather then with the previous idea.

On another note…I am continuing to research my topic and…

I found blog posts made by the ASPCA about various dogs with jobs. It was pretty cute; it started by introducing the purpose of the post: dogs are more than just pets, they “give back.” I think these posts were primarily made to publicize the ASPCA in hopes of getting more people to rescue dogs!

            Even so, it was a neat way to attract people. Anyway, these posts relate to my research topic because all of these dogs, in some way or another, have a “job” of some type. Most of the stories were very heart warming and touching, the ASPCA did a great job with these posts.

            I think it’s so interesting to see how many animals become involved with not only interacting, but impacting humans. It’s intriguing to me how keen dogs are, they know a lot more than most probably give them credit for. I love finding posts like this, it just proves how much we need animals in our lives.

I watched a flipbook slideshow, “The Cardstacker” today and thought it was pretty cool. Bryan Berg is a professional card stacker and the slideshow showed him making these huge buildings out of cards in fast-forward motion. He was telling his story while you could watch him building. It was a perfect combination in my opinion, hearing his story while watching exactly what he does made the story more interesting.

You can only invision how much work is put into building huge objects out of cards, but seeing him do it, obviously in fast-forward motion because it takes so long, makes that picture real for you. There is no imagining what all of it entails, you can watch it and hear the story behind everything as well.

It is a more powerful story because of that. It draws you in more because there are two interesting parts of the product, not just one: a part where you can hear the unusual story and a part where you can watch it as well. It wasn’t too long either, so it kept my attention the whole time. Overall, I enjoyed this flipbook a lot. My favorite part was at the end when they blow all the cards over with a leaf blower though!

I also watched “Crisis in Darfur Expands”, actually seeing these people in pain and upset, almost had me in tears. I think when you read stories about people in a situation like this, its common to hear there is pain and suffering in other countries. However, when you can see these people, see their tears, hear their voices, see their living conditions, it makes it all the more real. I couldn’t help but to imagine what if that was me. It is heartbreaking and I think the fact that the creators of this piece made multimedia aspects to their package made it way more powerful than if I were to just read text about the situation happening in Darfur.

The part of the package that was the most upsetting was the section called “Feeding baby Izzzedine.”  Seeing how much that baby is suffering, seeing his actual tears and screams sent chills down my spine. Without a multimedia aspect to these stories, they absolutely would not be as captivating as they are with the videos, pictures and sounds. 

            The multimedia package, “The Whale Hunt,”  was created and produced by Jonathan Harris and Andrew Moore, they both shot the 3,214 photographs of their nine day trip from Newark, NJ to Barrow, Alaska.  Harris, however, did all of the written pieces of the final project, while Harris was there to shoot the majority of the large frame formatted pictures.

This project was created to allow viewers to experience the tradition behind whale hunting with the Inupiat Eskimos moment by moment. However, there was a twist to this documentation; pictures were taken at a five-minute interval at a speed based on heart rate. At times of excitement, a maximum of 37 pictures were taken in five minutes and at times of boredom, the rate of pictures taken was far less.

            The purpose of this project was to create a series of documentation pieces with photographs and a recorded heartbeat that allows viewers to experience that rush of adrenaline or even the dullness these two men experienced while tagging along on a tradition based event.  Harris created the heartbeat portion of the project because he wanted to understand the use of computers and “emphasize” with their perspectives. This created a bonus for any viewer, he or she not only could visualize what was going on, but could also understand the emotion behind it as well. 

            When you enter the site, the main page only consists of a single picture, a link to “begin the whale hunt” first, followed by links to the statements, highlights, interface, credits, and faqs sections. Its plain white background, subtle gray font, and vividly colorful picture are very eye pleasing. It is a simple layout, is easy to navigate and the contrast between the white background and picture draws in the viewer.

            The package was broken up into the sections stated above, it was the easiest to start and read the “statement” section first. It laid out the whole reason behind doing the project, how it started and the basic information one may need to know to understand what they were going to look at when looking at the series of photographs.  It was very helpful that Harris included this portion; it set up what was going to be viewed and therefore was understood more so if someone were to start with by just clicking on “begin the whale hunt.”

            The “highlights” portion was just as helpful as the statements, it broke down the thousands of pictures taken into the most important, labeled them with captions, and allowed viewers to visually see the story from beginning to end without having to go through 3,214 photographs. It was interesting and easier to follow than trying to navigate through all the photographs taken throughout the whole trip.

            The “interface” told viewers what each part, caption, label, symbol and so on meant and represented. It was easier to understand the “begin the whale hunt” slideshow after fully reading this portion; it broke each section down and told viewers what to expect when he/she were to see it. It was very helpful as well in understanding the whole mission and final product of this package.

            The “credits” part of the package was like a mini-biography of each individual involved in the production of the project. This, again, was very helpful as well when trying to understand who everyone was and what their partake in this was. It allowed viewers to get to know the people behind the scenes and somewhat feel like they could understand why they were there and doing this. The “faq” portion was a simple question and answer portion created by Harris that answered questions he thought every viewer may have after seeing his final outcome.

            The biggest and most interactive part of “The Whale Hunt” was the 3,214 photographs, viewers could pick three different ways to view all of them: a mosaic mode, timeline, or pinwheel.  This was the project in a whole; it captured every waking, and non-waking moment the men experienced while on their trip. You could choose which pictures you wanted to view by cadence, or excitement level; the context, or area the photos were taken; the concept, or certain ideas like blood, prayer, food and so on; and the cast who was involved in the photos. This allowed viewers to see the whole project at once, or narrow it down to specific parts they were interested in seeing.

No one person will experience this package the same, there are so many different ways to go about viewing the package and understanding it because nothing has to be done in linear order. However, the only part of this package that creates some confusion is having the “begin whale hunt” link above the rest, therefore most would click on it first. That is very confusing if someone is just seeing all these pictures for the first time. The introduction of the project and what all these pictures mean should be the first seen and above the rest so people can read and understand what is going on.  Also, when you click on “begin the whale hunt” there is no link that will take you back to the homepage where you can explore all the other portions of the project.

This multimedia package, as a whole, was very entertaining, easy to follow if navigated correctly, and opened a porthole into the lives of something different that many would never be able to experience. The thousands of photographs was the porthole, they were able to really draw the viewer into what was going on and include him/her in on the action. It was the most compelling part of the whole project.

I’m interested in researching and interviewing an owner of a therapeutic horseback riding organization. I think it is such a unique and great way to help those in need.  I found a blog that told a story about Brenda Smith, a woman with a spinal cord injury who is bound to a wheel chair. Her normal physical therapy and daily routine was just not enough and left her feeling bored and weak.

A therapeutic horseback riding organization in Florida changed her life. Learning how to ride the horse without the use of her body from the wasit down has been “an incredible sense of freedom, independence and accomplishment,” she said to action online. 

So this week with my research…..

This last Thursday, I conducted my second interview pertaining to my second module with Barbara Wilson. I interviewed her colleague Beth Galihue who is also a professor at Towson University. She gave me a lot of great insight into how Wilson and her dog change the lives of so many people. It helped me understand more how strong of feelings Wilson has for her dog, Lilly. It really is so sweet.

Also, this past weekend I met with Joe Brown and Bryan Ray, both men created a hunting guide service in Barnsville, Md. They trained their two black labs, Maple and Daisy to partake in their business with hunting.

 I think I am going to use this interview as my multimedia package because I got plenty of photographs of Brian and his dog, Maple, doing practice runs with retrieving geese as well as real ones. It was pretty interesting to see and find out the training process with their dogs and how great it is for them to have their pets by their side at every moment. It was pretty fun to see Brian and his dog do the practice runs as well as real ones, I have never experienced anything like it!