Interactive Mapping

Since I live in Marin and commute to school three to four days a week, the neighborhood I chose was the obvious, the Sunset District (I threw in Sunnyside because I go to CCSF twice a week). I started my map out with my usual route from the Golden Gate Bridge down to SFSU. I take Park Presidio and cut through the Golden Gate Park to Lincoln down to Sunset which links to Lake Merced then either make my way to the school lot or fight for a parking spot on the street. I picked a few different places that I've been to while I either lived in SF or ventured out to since I've been commuting.

Mapping out my routine on google maps is pretty fun. I like how simple it is to set places and move around the map without being confused or overwhelmed. Three simple icons let you place a holder, move around the map or map out routes with straight lines. The text box that pops up is also easy to use with base info place holders. The only thing that would be confusing for some people might be the idea of adding images. I used the html tag to add my images in the info boxes, but for people without an html background, they might find it harder to place images because it's not so obvious.

Comparing both the timeline and the my maps section on google, there are obvious differences. One is a timeline that sets up an event and the other is a "where have you been?" or "what do you like?" device. As mentioned in the previous blog, I think a timeline of technology would be benificial to those who are interested in new and upcoming technology. An interactive map could be used to place historical sights in a city or neighborhood. Also, websites like Crimespotting.org where they list crimes in an area is beneficial, but you could also consider that to be a timeline as well. Not so much a linear timeline where everything is listed out, but more a historical map.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=
105665652944601605091.0004862c67bca1750f2c6

Interactive Information Visualization: The Cinematic Life of Angie

For this assignment I decided to create my Dipity timeline on the most notable films Angelina Jolie has been in over her entire career. Of course I did this on Angelina because I just love her! But it was also very interesting looking at the different roles she has taken on. They range from made for TV moves to animated motion capture filmes to action to voiceovers. She has definitely had an interesting career. Here is the Dipity timeline create:

Angie's Life on Dipity.

I found using Dipity to be very intuitive. The only thing that I did find annoying and that only worked half of the time was the "save + add another event" button. Whenever I pushed this button, it only worked half of the time. Some times it took me to another box where I could input another event, but most of the time I was taken back to the timeline and had to push the "add event" button located at the top left of the timeline. This was rather annoying because I wanted to keep going and add more information in, instead of pausing to push another button. I think their overall design aesthetics could look a little bit vamped. From the timelines I looked at, they looked pretty dull, but to each their own.

I do like the idea of ongoing timelines that people have up that you can follow. I think the ones you can benefit from would be computers, medical technology and political events. For people who like to keep up with the technological advances computers have made over the past few decades would love the idea of following a timeline that might suggest future comings of new technology. For example. MacRumors.com uses a simliar timeline idea except they list them out instead of placing them on timelines. MacRumors.com tells consumers when should buy new computers, iPhones, iPhones, etc by guessing when new releases might come out. They list previous release dates of the most updated hardware and software, when new big company events are happening like MacWorld and give suggestion ratings on if a consumer should buy or not. They would benefit from using a timeline, visually compelling people to take their information even more seriously then they already do.

The Future of Social Networking

Social networking online is getting to be overrated to me. I'd actually love a site that doesn't have the games, the trophies or the ratings and have one that lets me see the people I choose to keep in contact with in almost an address book type fashion. Unfortunately, I don't see the social networking future this way. I feel that social networking will keep growing. Expanding over to the mobile side has caused us to be up to date on every little thing we do throughout the day. If someone doesn't Twitter that they lost a shoe, then the world has been lost. When the word "twittering" has become a real adjective, I think it's time to take a step back and realize that there are other important things in the world.

I do love the idea of using twitter as a news forum that keeps you up to date on whats going on in the world. That would keep my attention all the time and I would use it constantly. I can see that social networking could become a physical real world tool. By using bluetooth technology to find people who are close to you, using the same network or have the same common interests as you, could enable you to actually MEET someone in real life. It would allow people to use social networking to their full advantage and not just hiding behind a computer to express your life story or likes and dislikes.

The Design Analysis of Faces.com

I decided on Faces.com because every time I would accidently start to type Facebook and his enter abruptly, I would end up at Faces.com. I found out Faces.com was a site basically geared towards teenages in the UK. The landing page basically shows "faces" of either new people who have joined, random faces and the most popular faces, which is bias because they are usually good looking people.

In order to sign up, I created a username, n00blet2010, entered in an email address, my age to make sure I was over 13 and was sent a confirmation email. From there I activated my account by clicking on a link which took me back to the Faces.com login with an additional verification passcode, put in my "real" name, a new password and presto I was in! From here I set up my profile, picking out a template created for me or editing the CSS and creating my own page design. I decided to be lazy and pick one of the most random designs called Pulse. From here I got to make up my fake profile. This reminds me of the time I set up an Avatar in Second Life. I picked out a random picture of a puppy online to use as my profile picture and I was finally set up. After you log in, the homepage appears which is where you do all of the fun stuff on Faces.com. You can set your mood - happy to stressed (I felt FUNNY today), "Promote Yourself" which is setting up your profile, adding more information, etc. There is a contact center, where you read your messages that people personally send to you or where secret admirers can send you messages (creepy). There is also a spot where you can see who viewed your profile. Their faces appear at the bottom of your homepage, so I decided to look around myself.

There is a Search tab at the top where you can find other Faces. On this page, it suggests around 30 faces to view so I randomly clicked on a few. On Faces.com the profiles have trophies signifiying if they are cool, if they are "real", if they are popular (you can give people stars on Faces.com), etc. You can also Explore (in the Explore tab) blogs, videos, photos, etc.

This site is a popularity contest. It's actually pretty boring and brings me back to the times of MySpace. To me the design isn't my style at all. Everything is very linear with horizontal blocks of info with simplistic text. I actually got bored viewing other blogs and videos. Everything I viewed was about that person and I actually feel like I am over the self-promotion aspect of social networking. With that said, here is a screenshot of my profile. I don't have an avatar up because the picture has be be approved by an administrator.

Social Networking - The Beginning

In the Beginning:

I started to hear about this site called Friendster when I was a Senior in high school and didn't know what it was. I had a friend of mine pressure me into signing up, but I never gave in because I was never interested. When MySpace came out and everyone was signing up for it, I gave in and signed up as well. Sometimes I wish I hadn't signed up because it's now a big part of my online experience. MySpace was cool the first time I started using it. I could keep in touch with all of my friends after graduating, find friends from my childhood and could update each other by posting pictures. After a while, MySpace got annoying because of the "fake" people who would try to be your friend and hack into your computer or the people who wanted a million friends just because so they sent out friend requests to anyone they saw. MySpace after a while became tiring and I refused to use it. Then Facebook came along and it seemed like everything MySpace wasn't, Facebook was. It was a simplistic design, that let you keep in touch with your friends without all of the annoying add-ons MySpace provided. A few years ago, I signed up for a LinkedIn account because I had worked with some great people freelancing. LinkedIn to me is awesome. Again, I love the simple design of LinkedIn, the idea of showing connections to possible network with from your current connections and having the ability to basically post your resume online. It's a great tool for working professionals and graduates. I most recently started up accounts on Flickr, DeviantArt, Etsy and CutOutAndPaste to sell handmade bags and purses I have crafted. These sites really let you display your creations in a way that everyone will be able to see them. They focus mainly on selling or viewing hobbies without the background profile fluff one would provide on Facebook or MySpace.

My Second Life

I decided to make take on a second life in Second Life. My avatar's name is Nabi Dragoone, a precocious and inquisitive, simplistic person who is trying to figure out her life in Second Life. She is the opposite of my actual self with long brown hair, pale skin and brown eyes. I decided to make her pretty simplistic. She's wearing a black long sleeve tee shirt with gray pants and black heels. I'd like to say Nabi is quiet, precocious and inquisitive when she wants to be, but otherwise she's a loner and stays in the background. An observer, for the most part, Nabi's first encounter was with a group of people who gathered in an area of Second Life called Bear. In Bear, the weather is some what crappy with grey skies.







1) SL provides a general local chat area that is located at the bottom on the game screen. Chat lines only run up to about 5 lines on screen to provide maximum display. There is also an IM section which pops open a mini screen to allow for private messages between avatars. The interface design is text based which provides you information on location (map), your inventory, searching for locations and people, where to communicate with people and how, snapshots and flying. The interface is located at the bottom of the screen in a simple sleek one lined design.

2) The non-interface designs consists of volume control, music playback and stop, directional arrows, and building structures.

3) Motion for my avatar is some what gilchy, I first worked on getting my avatar made, modeling and shaping her character design with an interface that had options on the left with a previewed image of my avatar on the right. Shapes are very smooth, ranging from characters to buildings they all contain geometric shapes that are smooth and fluid in shape.

4) Goals and tasks are giving to the character at the beginning of the game in the form of a box located in the upper left corner. This is obviously not part of the normal game play so it draws your attention to the box automatically. It at first contained information on how to move your avatar, change appearances, fly, map location, etc

5) The chat feature makes me feel like I am really in the world. Because of the extensive amount of people I have encountered and the number of people I have talked to the chat feature is the most immersive feature in the entire game. Second would be the ability to move around anywhere you want. I think the idea of inventory is good in a game, its like carrying around a wallet, but the way inventory is featured as a popup box is weird. It should be more immersive like going back to ones home base and putting the inventory away to be picked out again.

6) I spoke with a few avatars, one spoke to me about their college years and that they were doing research for educational purposes and another game me free hair to use.

7) I have yet to get into the full economy of the world, but people use actually dollar currencies to buy and participate in events. The few that I've participated in were free.

8) My favorite activity was participating in a new Hip Hop DJ group that held dance parties every night from 8pm to 10pm.

9) Hovering over objects tell how what they are otherwise they are obvious and are labelled on how to use them.

Week 2 - My Digital Life

Technology Inventory List:

3 Laptops

1 Tower Unit

2 External Hard drives

2 Wacom Tables

3 Monitors

2 Speaker Monitors

iPhone

PS3

Projector

Canon 7D

Canon Powershot

I can not see my life without everything listed on my technology inventory. When I am at home I use my tower CPU, when I am out I always have a laptop with me and my iPhone. I bring my laptop to work and work off my own laptop and external hard drive and sometimes I bring one of my Wacoms if I am doing intensive graphic illustrations. I have been accustomed to using a laptop with an external monitor and Wacom for game play and I can't watch a movie without my projector. My life is literally digital.

I think my mom still uses a rolladex and phone book to keep all of her contacts in though she has a cellphone. My father only just switched over to a blackberry from a "regular" cellphone that now holds all of his contacts and appointments. Though they still have papers all over their home office and posted on their fridge with numbers and dates of places they need to be. I am now showing them how to log onto Facebook and use the Google Calendar to keep appointments.

Being the age I am and growing up in the 90's, I was introduced to the NES at the age of 6 in 1990 and found that system to be the best piece of electronics ever invented. It was a trip to learn that there was a system even older then the NES. What is even more amazing is that I still own every gaming system I have (or my parents have) ever bought. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that consoles are still around because the internet and computers have really bumped up the gaming status quo. I remember my parents trying to play my NES and feeling this sense of dispare. It was hard for them. I know they weren't use to this new interactive game play, different from a regular board game.

In 1996 when I started Junior High, I had a pager and two years later in high school I had a giant Nokia Cellphone. My boyfriend and I (who is only 6 months younger then I am at the lovely age of 25), like to reminisce about those days of bulky electronic devices in our pockets and carrying binders full of information when now we have tiny phones and laptops to hold everything.

I grew up in the analog to digital transition. It's a weird feeling. Within a 15 year span I've owned 7 computers all ranging from CRTs and towers to 13 inch laptops and 8 gaming consoles. With the computer and consoles being some of the biggest developments of the times, I can look back on my own history to see where the analog ended and the digital began.