I'd never thought there was such a thing as dishonest blogging. Unfortunately, the news in this article about groups that 'help' multinationals around the web has changed my mind completely.
Companies around the world have started a business in helping multinational companies such as Nike and McDonald's control the web by monitoring blog posts and 'killing off' any negative comments. They also provide positive feedback through bloggers that get paid about $0.015 each post or topic they make, a decent incentive for making up propaganda that helps or criticizes a company. Actually, they don't even have to make it up- the company even writes out the posts, and they just have to copy it somewhere.
Honestly? That's just wrong. I understand that they're trying to make a business out of things, but there are probably many other ways to do something more honest than what they're doing now. I'm pretty sure that there's an evil mastermind that writes up all of the propaganda that's laughing evilly right now, actually.
Sure, some companies are doing this for a good reason. Daqi, for example, helped Metersbonwe Group, a retailer in the Forbidden City, get a lease for a larger store after the group got evicted from its old space for a Nike store. However, I believe that it's only a matter of time until the groups are there purely for the purpose of getting companies to hire them to ridicule their enemies. Groups like these, in my opinion, destroy the very structure of the Internet and violate one of the unspoken rules of honesty in the blogging world. Why should they be given the power to just, as the article put it, 'squelch' negative information? I understand that bloggers seldom change their minds about a subject (Unless, of course, offered a large amount of money), so asking them to change their posts would be very difficult. However, just destroying their opinions is very dishonest, in my opinion.
In conclusion, my opinion is that the companies doing this for 'good' (Good is, of course, by perspective) reasons, such as Daqi does on occasion, should (by ethic morals) keep doing it only for 'good' reasons, like helping domestic retailers. However, the companies that hire people to post negative feedback about another company should be stopped. People are entitled to their own opinions, and they shouldn't be influenced by the amount of money they can be paid to express it.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Typography
Today, we learned about typography in class. Typography is what language looks like; it is the art of using letters and words to design a visual display on a page. Web designers, artists, and other people who work with art can specialize in typography to make works of art. This includes any form of words. Obviously, people who specialize in this type of work are sought after by big companies to design displays, because they can make the words pop out of a page or attract the attention of a person seeing it. For example, my attention would be more caught by a large neon board with words that seemed to pop out then, say, a normal advertisement with exactly 14 type font across the paper. Even graffiti, illegal as it is, is still a form of typography- to be honest, some types of graffiti catch my attention more than any billboard.
I think that typography is a large part of any industry or company, since it gives a way for the consumer to see the product easily. Typography can also be used in company logos. Certainly, I appreciate all the typographers in the world who can catch my attention with a well-designed advertisement.
I've also provided an example of a form of typography below. If you scroll all the way down on my blog, you can see an example of a program called 'Spell with Flickr'. It lets you type in anything you want, and then Flickr will spell it out for you. It's a pretty decent program to use, and it's certainly something entertaining. I didn't expect the HTML code to be so long when I copy and pasted the script over, though!
Next, we had to identify #1-16 in This Diagram.
1) Tail 9) Stem
2) Spline 10) Finial
3) Apex 11) Link/Neck
4) Serif 12) Loop/Lobe
5) Bowl 13) Ear
6) Spur 14) Extender (Ascender)
7) Eye/Counter 15) Diagonal Stroke or Diagonal Stem, Arm?
8) Extender (Descender) 16) Crossbar
I'm not sure about #3, I couldn't find it anywhere. Even Googling it, the best I could find was a 'vertex', which was because the top of an A is similar to the bottoms of a 'w'. Also, I'm not sure about the orders of #4, #6 and #10.
I've also started working on a cat text image. It's not turning out as well as I'd hoped, but I think it's okay so far. I don't think I'm that good at this typography stuff...
That's the beginning, anyway.
I think that typography is a large part of any industry or company, since it gives a way for the consumer to see the product easily. Typography can also be used in company logos. Certainly, I appreciate all the typographers in the world who can catch my attention with a well-designed advertisement.
I've also provided an example of a form of typography below. If you scroll all the way down on my blog, you can see an example of a program called 'Spell with Flickr'. It lets you type in anything you want, and then Flickr will spell it out for you. It's a pretty decent program to use, and it's certainly something entertaining. I didn't expect the HTML code to be so long when I copy and pasted the script over, though!
Next, we had to identify #1-16 in This Diagram.
1) Tail 9) Stem
2) Spline 10) Finial
3) Apex 11) Link/Neck
4) Serif 12) Loop/Lobe
5) Bowl 13) Ear
6) Spur 14) Extender (Ascender)
7) Eye/Counter 15) Diagonal Stroke or Diagonal Stem, Arm?
8) Extender (Descender) 16) Crossbar
I'm not sure about #3, I couldn't find it anywhere. Even Googling it, the best I could find was a 'vertex', which was because the top of an A is similar to the bottoms of a 'w'. Also, I'm not sure about the orders of #4, #6 and #10.
I've also started working on a cat text image. It's not turning out as well as I'd hoped, but I think it's okay so far. I don't think I'm that good at this typography stuff...
That's the beginning, anyway.(For the original, see the Devil Cat's original picture below.)
See you next time!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
What I did today
Sorry! I didn't do anything today at all. We had testing today, so we only had a half hour in class (Not even that much, to be honest.) Our 'assignment' was to finish anything we didn't finish last time, and since I finished, I didn't have anything to do. I slept for an hour and a half after the test, so I'm tired. Anyway, see you next time!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Photoshop Today
Today, we followed a tutorial in Photoshop to learn all the skills that a novice at Photoshop needed to know. We transformed this picture...
öztürk, Yasin. business business. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock
Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 22 Aug. 2007. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.sxc.hu/photo/855434>.
öztürk, Yasin. business business. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock
Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 22 Aug. 2007. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.sxc.hu/photo/855434>.
Into this picture...
Not too bad, I think! To make the second picture, we used a lot of the tools in the 'Image' tab in Photoshop. I used the 'Auto Levels' tool in the Adjustments tab, learned how to use contrast to make the image look better, used 'Soft Light' for my layer, and made it black and white. Then, I cropped and resized my image (I made it a bit bigger only- The tutorial told us to make it about 800 x 600. I made mine about half that size...) Also, I added a small black border around it.
I did the same thing in this picture:
Maeda, Michiru. A Kitten. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography
Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1308349>.
Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1308349>.
To:
The border was a bit bigger, and I changed the curves a bit more to my
liking.
It's not a mustachioed cat, but it's still cool!
~PaulyD
Reflection
So, twelve weeks total have passed since I started taking this class. So far, I have to say that I'm enjoying the second set of six weeks more than the first. The beginning of this six weeks was finishing the project in Pages, and now that that's over, I'm really happy. I didn't mind the project as much in the end, since it was mostly research and creativity to create the itinerary. The Hex-Code, RGB and CMYK ideas interest me a lot, since I've done hex-code before. We've also played with a spectrometer, which I didn't understand for a little while until I found out why people used it. Right now, we're learning about Photoshop, a program that I respect for its many uses. At least, I don't have it messing me up yet (Key word there, of course, being 'yet.').
I think I've been on task for the majority of this six weeks. All of my blog posts have been very detailed, and I spend all of my class time working (Or learning by playing around) in Photoshop. It's really helped me to stop playing games and to keep learning just by playing in a program. I think that I've also learned things faster and easier by focusing more on the task at hand.
Hope for a great last six weeks before Christmas!
I think I've been on task for the majority of this six weeks. All of my blog posts have been very detailed, and I spend all of my class time working (Or learning by playing around) in Photoshop. It's really helped me to stop playing games and to keep learning just by playing in a program. I think that I've also learned things faster and easier by focusing more on the task at hand.
Hope for a great last six weeks before Christmas!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Photoshop
I'm starting to love Photoshop again...
Anyway, today, our class started out by taking a small quiz on the Principles of Color. It was pretty easy, and I got through with it pretty fast.
Then, we went into Photoshop to start using the "pen" tool. We started out with an original picture (As shown below) from a stock image website, and added a white layer. Then, we added another layer, and went over the outline and details in pen. Then, we stroked the lines with a pressured brush to give it a good effect. Finally, I used the brush tool to fill in a background and words. You can see my result below!
Original: Wuertemberger, Matthias. A cat in garden 1. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free
Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 29 June 2010. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1290764>.
Anyway, today, our class started out by taking a small quiz on the Principles of Color. It was pretty easy, and I got through with it pretty fast.
Then, we went into Photoshop to start using the "pen" tool. We started out with an original picture (As shown below) from a stock image website, and added a white layer. Then, we added another layer, and went over the outline and details in pen. Then, we stroked the lines with a pressured brush to give it a good effect. Finally, I used the brush tool to fill in a background and words. You can see my result below!
Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 29 June 2010. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1290764>.
Photoshopped:
Yes, the intended effect was a devil-cat. With a mustache, of course.
Next, we used the same process as above, except we used Photobooth
and edited an image of ourselves.
and edited an image of ourselves.
Say Hi to Me!
Photoshop is so much fun, isn't it?
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Color Box
Today, I got to play with a color box. "What is a color box?" You ask. This is a color box. http://cybercollege.com/colors/tabbedcolorbox.html
At that link, you get to merge different types of colors to make new colors. We can mix the original shades of light- RGB (Red, Green, and Blue), pigments (CMYK- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and mix them all to get K, Black.) Then, we could 'print' things, to show how real publishers control the color in their articles and to show what happens if the colors used are unbalanced.
First, I went to the Mixing Light tab. Then, I combined colors to get the following:
1 Cyan = Blue + Green
2 Magenta = Red + Blue
3 White = Blue + Green + Red
4 Yellow = Green + Red
5 Black = No colors
Then, I went to the Mixing Pigments tab. I combined pigments to get the following:
1 Red = Yellow + Magenta
2 Blue = Cyan + Magenta
3 White = No colors
4 Green = Cyan + Yellow
5 Black = Cyan + Yellow + Magenta
(Note: The first three colors are the ones we were told to find; the rest are just for reference later on.)
Finally, I went to the 'Color Printing' tab and changed the colors to find out how a printer works.
When Yellow was slowly tuned down (This printer just used CMY), the black turned slowly from black to a shade of purple and then blue. With no yellow at all, there's a brighter shade of blue- probably something like a 'royal blue' color.
As Cyan was turned down, the black combination turned to a shade of dark brown, then brown, then a dark red, and finally, with no cyan, yellow and magenta made a bright red color.
That was all we were told to do, but I turned down Magenta to see what happened anyway. The yellow and the cyan did pretty much what I expected, making a dark and then light shade of green.
For the rest of the period, I spent my time looking at photoshop tutorials. I can't wait to start here, since I know that photoshop is essential for my animation class as well, for designing templates. It's definitely going to be a useful thing to know how to do.
(My photoshopped Knight)
At that link, you get to merge different types of colors to make new colors. We can mix the original shades of light- RGB (Red, Green, and Blue), pigments (CMYK- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and mix them all to get K, Black.) Then, we could 'print' things, to show how real publishers control the color in their articles and to show what happens if the colors used are unbalanced.
First, I went to the Mixing Light tab. Then, I combined colors to get the following:
1 Cyan = Blue + Green
2 Magenta = Red + Blue
3 White = Blue + Green + Red
4 Yellow = Green + Red
5 Black = No colors
Then, I went to the Mixing Pigments tab. I combined pigments to get the following:
1 Red = Yellow + Magenta
2 Blue = Cyan + Magenta
3 White = No colors
4 Green = Cyan + Yellow
5 Black = Cyan + Yellow + Magenta
(Note: The first three colors are the ones we were told to find; the rest are just for reference later on.)
Finally, I went to the 'Color Printing' tab and changed the colors to find out how a printer works.
When Yellow was slowly tuned down (This printer just used CMY), the black turned slowly from black to a shade of purple and then blue. With no yellow at all, there's a brighter shade of blue- probably something like a 'royal blue' color.
As Cyan was turned down, the black combination turned to a shade of dark brown, then brown, then a dark red, and finally, with no cyan, yellow and magenta made a bright red color.
That was all we were told to do, but I turned down Magenta to see what happened anyway. The yellow and the cyan did pretty much what I expected, making a dark and then light shade of green.
For the rest of the period, I spent my time looking at photoshop tutorials. I can't wait to start here, since I know that photoshop is essential for my animation class as well, for designing templates. It's definitely going to be a useful thing to know how to do.
(My photoshopped Knight)Original Turton, Kamilla. Knight on a Horse. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock
Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 12 July 2009. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.
<http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1208374>.
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