Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Some interesting videos.
This was a fan's response to a Dresden Doll's song.
This was a flash animated short by the artist Annika Bergstrom. I especially like that she incorporates real video with flash.
--Kat.
This was a flash animated short by the artist Annika Bergstrom. I especially like that she incorporates real video with flash.
--Kat.
japanese commercials are just awesome
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this is just a funny music video . super 80's india pop music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRmqZRPgK1w
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this is awesome as well. its flash!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
1. Could PowerPoint be improved by having users include links that would link to different sources or past slides to create a more interactive presentation? Or maybe discontinue using PowerPoint all together and use a web based source that was less linear and more of a brainstorm, web like structure which would allow for more discussion
2. Maybe in the future, PowerPoint and projection screens would have a higher resolution so that complex graphs and text could be read at a great disctance (as most presentations are given in a relatively large room) and there wouldn't be as much of a need for simplified graphics/graphs/text and would therefore minimize the "dumbing down" associated with PowerPoint
2. Maybe in the future, PowerPoint and projection screens would have a higher resolution so that complex graphs and text could be read at a great disctance (as most presentations are given in a relatively large room) and there wouldn't be as much of a need for simplified graphics/graphs/text and would therefore minimize the "dumbing down" associated with PowerPoint
Cognitive Style of Powerpoint
1. Has Powerpoint been abused for propaganda purposes rather than a basic organizazion tool?
2. With all of the critisism supported in this essay, why is Powerpoint still such a prominant software program today?
2. With all of the critisism supported in this essay, why is Powerpoint still such a prominant software program today?
Cognitive Style of Powerpoint
The author obviously has a very strong point - Power Point sucks. That said, he continues to barrage us with the point over and over and seems to blame the program itself for being poor. Obviously it is a mistake to use a program for a function which it is not fit - the Columbia example proved this beyond doubt. However if there is a fault with the system, the system is faulty, and if we continue to use a faulty system, then we are faulty. I don't think the finger was pointed strongly enough at the user - "YOU there, stop USING this crap" as opposed to "Don't you see how PowerPoint is going to ruin our lives if we don't kill it soon?"
cognitive style of powerpoint
I agree with what the author is saying is saying because I feel that powerpoints are too uninteractive and are sometimes hard to pay attention and retain information from. The author states "It is helpful to provide audience members with at least one mode of information that allows them to control the order and pace of learning unlike slides and unlike talk. The author suggests paper handouts, and I think that powerpoints would be best supplemented with a handout of each slide in case the viewer is unable to keep up with the presentation or if the viewer wanted to return to an earlier slide.
The cognitive style of power point
I don’t entirely agree with Tufte about pp being a useless program. PP could be helpful to some people. Some people needs pp to better understand a speech. Some people need the cheesy graphics to understand visual data. Tufte just totally hates pp in his essay and is a bit harsh saying that it’s a stupid way to present data. But I do believe in order a pp presentation to be successful. It needs an effective speaker and outstanding content. Tufte even automatically assumes that pp users use lousy content. Yea maybe they are limited in words but it they choose the right words it works.
1. Tufte mentions that pp is not necessary and presenters should just hand out a print out paper? How does he know that that particular presentation does not need the pp.? how does he know that the audiences would understand the speech better with out the pp? why not use both pp, print outs and a speech to get our point across.
2. Why would pp make a speech ‘boring’? Wouldn’t it be the speakers’ fault for not keeping his audience interested in what he has to say?
3. PP charts are effective according to a certain type of data. Isn’t tufte generalizing that all pp charts is a clear sign of stupidity?
1. Tufte mentions that pp is not necessary and presenters should just hand out a print out paper? How does he know that that particular presentation does not need the pp.? how does he know that the audiences would understand the speech better with out the pp? why not use both pp, print outs and a speech to get our point across.
2. Why would pp make a speech ‘boring’? Wouldn’t it be the speakers’ fault for not keeping his audience interested in what he has to say?
3. PP charts are effective according to a certain type of data. Isn’t tufte generalizing that all pp charts is a clear sign of stupidity?
The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint
I agree whole-heartedly with Tufte that powerpoint presentations can be a waste of time and a poor way for people to present information. Though is it our own fault for leaning too heavily on the pre-made templates and reading off the slides themselves that create such awful presentations? Or rather if we used the program merly as a tool for strengthening our speech and use it along with other forms of teaching would it still hurt the information?
POWER point
Unlike many of our past readings, this one was more entertaining. At my past schools I've had to use power point a lot, and it has always seemed boring to me. this technology seems dated and only is useful for government presentations, or big corporations. And i have the felling that Tufte would agree. however just a week ago i was watching something on 9/11 and the speaker had put together a power point presentation, when used that way to help show point by point what really happened, power point was very useful. other then that power point needs an upgrade!
The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint
I found it incredible that NASA engineers found nothing wrong with Columbia after evaluation of the PP slides. All the information was there; all the engineers had to do was attentively read the slides. Apparently PP had corrupted their minds, because they saw nothing wrong in Columbia after reviewing the reports. They are engineers, is it not part of their jobs to attentively read? I just find that incredibly strange.
I assume this is a fairly wide-read essay, after reading Tufte's credentials on the back. Thus, I am curious if Microsoft (or any software company for that matter) has taken his suggestions to heart, and attempted to create the perfect word processing and visual presentation program based on what he finds wrong with PP. He is a recognized professor, so I believe it's possible.
Also, I wonder if Microsoft reacted at all to this writing being published. What were their thoughts? Did they simply say, "Poor PP presentations are the result of poor PP users," again, and leave it at that? I thought it was interesting when Tufte mentioned, "Only monopolies can blame consumers for poor performances." I suppose it's true; Microsoft has a monopoly going with PP being the definite way to present visual information.
The last thing I wondered after reading Tufte's essay is if I had ever seen an A3 handout (11x17 inches). It seems like a great idea, if this is the quintessential way to present information at a high resolution. However, I don't believe I have ever seen that. Perhaps, the next time I have to create a presentation, I will use size A3 handouts.
I assume this is a fairly wide-read essay, after reading Tufte's credentials on the back. Thus, I am curious if Microsoft (or any software company for that matter) has taken his suggestions to heart, and attempted to create the perfect word processing and visual presentation program based on what he finds wrong with PP. He is a recognized professor, so I believe it's possible.
Also, I wonder if Microsoft reacted at all to this writing being published. What were their thoughts? Did they simply say, "Poor PP presentations are the result of poor PP users," again, and leave it at that? I thought it was interesting when Tufte mentioned, "Only monopolies can blame consumers for poor performances." I suppose it's true; Microsoft has a monopoly going with PP being the definite way to present visual information.
The last thing I wondered after reading Tufte's essay is if I had ever seen an A3 handout (11x17 inches). It seems like a great idea, if this is the quintessential way to present information at a high resolution. However, I don't believe I have ever seen that. Perhaps, the next time I have to create a presentation, I will use size A3 handouts.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Response to The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint
I have to agree with most of you guys that I have hated Powerpoint for years. I agreed with Tufte on pretty much everything. While the material did tend to become dense and repetive, it was actually far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Parts of it, in fact, were actually kind of funny. I do think that Powerpoint is a pretty awful program that creates boring nd predictable presentations which are pretty useless. I have been wondering, thought, is it the inablility to make good comparisions that primarily makes Powerpoint statistics so skewed? Also, should we just completely do away with this program altogether? Or can it be salvaged?
cognitive style of powerpoint
I should have known by just the image on the cover what I was getting into. Tufte is very sarcastic, if not sardonic at some times, to emphasize his point that PowerPoint is not promising. He does get repetitive, but it doesn't bother me as much because I think he was just trying to support his point with a lot of information and examples.
I also liked Tufte's connection of Orwell's quote with PowerPoint. The English language accepts just about any new word, similarly to PowerPoint it gets lazy. Other countries like France control their language from turning into something like English in order to preserve language and comprehension. This can be compared to PowerPoint and using other applications.
I also liked Tufte's connection of Orwell's quote with PowerPoint. The English language accepts just about any new word, similarly to PowerPoint it gets lazy. Other countries like France control their language from turning into something like English in order to preserve language and comprehension. This can be compared to PowerPoint and using other applications.
the cognitive style of powerpoint
i think this article is very entertaining because ever since middle school as a student i have had powerpoint shoved down my throat as a great tool to produce and organized presentation, and i agree with a lot of the points that Tufte presents. however, when Tufte was speaking about the bottom 10% needing powerpoint and the upper 10% not needing i feel that middle school students would definitely fall within the bottom 10% and therefore isn't powerpoint a good tool to introduce to students at a young age to help them organize there main points of a presentation?
i also think that powerpoint can be very useful in some presentations like our admittance portfolio's for instance,but they are very inappropriately used when used by NASA so where is the line between PP helping and hurting a presentation, being a useful tool or a harmful tool to us?
i also think that powerpoint can be very useful in some presentations like our admittance portfolio's for instance,but they are very inappropriately used when used by NASA so where is the line between PP helping and hurting a presentation, being a useful tool or a harmful tool to us?
the cognitive style of powerpoint
my first question is quite straight-forward, but throughout the entire reading i couldn't seem to get a grasp on how and when powerpoint found it's way into places like NASA. being everything Tufte describes it as, the least it could get away with was being acceptable as a learning tool where we first learned it, middle school. bullet by bullet introducing points meant to scribble down and recognize on a test. so how in the world did this flimsy program take the place of a written technical report? what information will we lack in the future if practices in poor powerpoint presenting continue?
after reading this, which i suppose is the point, i had no idea what we were doing with a program like powerpoint. why does it exist and why is it passed of as something we can slap together to attempt at proving earth shattering points. the name is deceptive. there are points that should have power, statistics, yet as Tufte states, "powerpoint promotes the hierarchical bullet list..."(Tufte,16) if we know that powerpoint chops our important information into oblivion and doesn't get across exactly what we mean to, then where is the misunderstanding? we are doing a disservice to ourselves, being content with representing ourselves in bulleted lists.
after reading this, which i suppose is the point, i had no idea what we were doing with a program like powerpoint. why does it exist and why is it passed of as something we can slap together to attempt at proving earth shattering points. the name is deceptive. there are points that should have power, statistics, yet as Tufte states, "powerpoint promotes the hierarchical bullet list..."(Tufte,16) if we know that powerpoint chops our important information into oblivion and doesn't get across exactly what we mean to, then where is the misunderstanding? we are doing a disservice to ourselves, being content with representing ourselves in bulleted lists.
The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint
This was a very unusual and different reading than I had anticipated. This dealt a lot more with a strong critique of the softwares' failings and use as a propaganda tool, rather than a tool for the better. My first and most important question was that if PowerPoint is being used as a tool of deception, and that there are other tools for these various jobs, why doesn't someone create a software that can contain and control the use of multiple tools. The main concern for this would be, for example, when NASA was presented with technical information via PowerPoint. Columbia's credibility was lost because they did not use a technical report. I wonder if there could be some sort of software that could manipulate a few various key tools to do everything from a simple PowerPoint presentation, to something as complex as a technical report. My other question becomes, when and where did PowerPoint move from being a tool to help organize and present information, into being this tool of deception? It also mentions Harvard's School of Public Health's presentation of PowerPoint tips, it was mentioned that the presentation was quite weak, making poor graphs and showing data in a poor way. I wonder if PowerPoint just needs to get a strong upgrade, because it is shown that it can lose credibility, but never once was it mentioned that PowerPoint was used to gain credibilty.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Reader Response: "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint"
In my experience, most teachers who demand that research projects be presented in PowerPoint format conduct their classes in a manner highly reminiscent of the program. Lessons rarely feature visual aids, observation of themes in their current applications, or free discussion/debate of material. More importantly, projected notes and outlines are simple, idealized, and without illustrative examples, leaving students to divine usable knowledge from a technical (albeit, dense) textbook. Requiring that student presentations be nothing more than half-a-dozen slides insinuates that the pupils cannot be trusted to learn and present information themselves and that allowing them to try would be a waste of precious, precious time. Could such fast-paced, summarizing methods of teaching be a source of student apathy by suggesting that the material is not even "important" or "useful" enough to merit practical understanding?
Regarding the chapter, "What Are the Causes of Visual Presentations?" to what extent does the increasingly fast-paced dynamic, at which modern business is conducted (America is in the small minority of nations that are, on average, extending the work week) support PowerPoint as the preferred tool for dissemination of ideas? I am not suggesting, as a primary cause for this, that there is actually insufficient time to present the neccessary amount of information. But the briskness with which ideas are exchanged and business is conducted today may program its players to believe that more (time, thought, attention, etc.) is less.
Regarding the chapter, "What Are the Causes of Visual Presentations?" to what extent does the increasingly fast-paced dynamic, at which modern business is conducted (America is in the small minority of nations that are, on average, extending the work week) support PowerPoint as the preferred tool for dissemination of ideas? I am not suggesting, as a primary cause for this, that there is actually insufficient time to present the neccessary amount of information. But the briskness with which ideas are exchanged and business is conducted today may program its players to believe that more (time, thought, attention, etc.) is less.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
I must say that this reading is much easier to follow than Manovich's essay. I like Benjamin's theory of the cult basis coming from new medias like graphic design and even more so film; that the aura of the artwork is still mysterious and unfamiliar, changing to a functional basis when the progression of the media itself is revealed. I may not have understood that idea fully but that's the overall gist I got from the theory.
A lot of points like the cult basis and production basis are interesting and I appreciate how Walter Benjamin not only ties in cultural and social aesthetics when analyzing artwork and medias but also the political, economical, and proletariat aspects too. I wish he tied more of his epilogue into the reading because to me it threw me off.
A lot of points like the cult basis and production basis are interesting and I appreciate how Walter Benjamin not only ties in cultural and social aesthetics when analyzing artwork and medias but also the political, economical, and proletariat aspects too. I wish he tied more of his epilogue into the reading because to me it threw me off.
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