Daily Shoot 2 - Big and Small comparisons

"Make a photo of two complementary objects arranged in a pleasing composition, one large and one small."


Yummy kiwi and it's sticker! =D

Daily Shoot 1 - Green Foliage

So for this shoot, I went a little outside the box. The prompt was ""Showcase the beauty of living foliage! Make a photo of a single leaf or an entire "greenscape" today. (@DeForestRanger)." I took a picture of my tattoo, which is of a tree. It is of an actual tree (here) that is at the camp I work at every summer. I figured I saw enough of Mary Wash's normal green life everyday that I didn't really want to take a picture of it. So I took a picture of green life that I really enjoy! =D



Also, I know I blogged this a day late, but yesterday was my birthday and I spent absolutely no time on the computer. I did twitter it before I went to bed though.

Assignment 5 - Six frame story

Movie - Matilda (1996)
Not my favorite movie, but definitely a classic. =D

Good idea? Bad idea.

Story Credits:
Morgan @ tomatolemonade.org
Stephanie @ blog.gephy.info
Jessica @ blog.jhouck.info

















Someone buys a trampoline. They set it up. They jump on it. They fall off. They regret ever having bought it.




Photo Credits:
http://nickscoullar.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/full-body-cast.jpg
http://sarahdessen.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/europa-trampoline-md.jpg
http://www.garden-games.me.uk/acatalog/trampolines_plum_products_fun_trampoline.jpg
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dcarney/Pictures/Flip.jpg
http://www.urban-rebounder.info/images/8ft%20trampoline.jpg

The Web is Dead

. . . . . . so what?

Well, really, I don't think the web is dead quite yet. But maybe one day it will be - but who says that is such a terrible thing? Sure, it's different and new and presents challenges, but so did the creation of the web in the first place. Things change. It happens. Chris Anderson talks in the 'We are to blame' section of this article that railroads, telephones, and electricity all started with one company, grew to many, and then were dominated again by one. Who expected the web to be any different?

Anderson also says that apps are taking over and replacing the web. While I can see this as partially true, I also think he is exaggerating a bit. Sure, I have an iPod, but I really only use it for music - not Twitter, facebook, or internet surfing, unless class is super boring. The iPad is popular, but I think a bit overdone, and I know few people that use Pandora regularly. RSS is almost unheard-of outside of more computer savvy circles and I only know one person who uses Netflix's streaming service, and that's because he can't get any cable without paying a buttload. Sure, apps are super popular, but I don't think I can agree with 'The Web is Dead' until they have completely permeated our lives - and that includes even those people who don't use technology that much.

As to who to blame, I think I agree with the 'Them' side. Sure, we buy these apps and use them and seem to sometimes forget about actual web browsing, but we couldn't do that if they weren't offered to us in the first place. It's like a child growing up in a house full of unhealthy food - if they grow up to be overweight or unhealthy, the fact that the parents bought all that stuff in the first place is largely to blame. If they did not keep unhealthy food in the house, the child could not eat it. The corporations and companies that create these alternatives for us give us the opportunities to utilize other forms of internet interaction, and if they don't like how the internet is changing, then they should do something to fix it.

Also, I spite the creators of the Kindles and iPod apps for books. That is one area of new technology I cannot condone. Actual books are so much better than any application. Don't want to read it on your laptop? Go get some paper you lazy bum.

Web is Dead Article

What is Web 2.0? I don't know!

After reading O'Reilly's article, I still don't think I can answer his title question. As it was written in 2005, I would like to see what he would say about internet today, but perhaps I should get more background and simple information before I go comparing. His opening paragraph talks about the 'bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2001' and I had no idea what he was talking about. Considering I was almost ten years old, I was more concerned with neopets than major companies, and so I googled it. Wikipedia tells me that The "dot-com bubble" was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 (with a climax on March 10, 2000 with the NASDAQ peaking at 5132.52) during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more recent Internet sector and related fields. The period was marked by the founding (and, in many cases, spectacular failure) of a group of new Internet-based companies commonly referred to as dot-coms. Companies were seeing their stock prices shoot up if they simply added an "e-" prefix to their name and/or a ".com" to the end. This answer somewhat helps, but I guess my main uncertainty is how NASDAQ or any other dot-com company can fall so quickly in stocks. I understand the basics of the stock market, like how I would invest in it and be able to profit, but as to how it can fall rapidly and how in 2008 everything went to shit, I have no clue. From what I gather in the article, this 'dot-com bubble burst' is what caused some of the companies to fall out of business and make way for new ones, as well as others to grow and learn and become what they are today. Hopefully this is correct - if not I need even more help than I thought.

What I did find interesting were the changes that did occur. His visual Web 1.0/Web 2.0 comparison was neat - seeing how the programs we use today came from things I personally have mostly forgotten about was a cool flashback. Britannica Online and mp3.com are so old, but without them I do not think I could function, for they have given me two amazing things: Wikipedia and online music. THANK GOD.

From a lot of the rest of the article, what I have gathered is that Web 2.0 is very much user based - focused on the general public and what they have to offer back to the internet. RSS feeds, the blogging world, even Amazon's data management that encourages user input and user relevant results, all of these reflect the focus on the community that uses the internet rather than the companies that run it. The ability to collect information, organize it, and reflect it back so that more people can continue the process is what makes the internet so constantly changing and evolving. Eric Raymond's statement that 'with enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow' speaks a lot for what the internet has to offer now - thousands of user run and user supported programs and sites that serve to enhance our lives. As someone who is terrible with directions, I can't imagine going to a trip without MapQuest directions or a gps, but these are relatively new programs that are being updated incredibly frequently.

One of the things I love about my iPod is that even though I got it almost two years ago, it is still being updated, enhancing, becoming a better product. I was just recently given the ability to add a background image to the home screen, and while this is a fairly trivial update, it is a solid reflection of how eliminating software release cycles that only apply to some products (or create new ones entirely) or are incredibly lengthy between updates can vastly improve how we function. The constant updating and alterations made from user given feedback not only makes software generated to how the public uses it, but also creates an ease with which to do so.

The specifics and amount of detail that went in to this article made it very interesting, but I fear that a lot of it went over my head. It did, however, bring up many points that I had not previously considered and made me appreciate the internet we have that much more, and look forward to the advancements yet to come.

Article

Tomato Lemonade – Background and Theme choices

When I first knew I was going to make a blog, 'Tomato Lemonade' was not on my mind as a title choice. 'Sweet Zebra Shades' or 'Chicken Nuggets' were at the forefront of my thoughts, or maybe something including NASCAR, the only sport I am even relatively interested in (it IS a sport, don't start with me). I thought about a name a lot, talked with my boyfriend, my mom, my sister, and couldn't really decide on something that was 'me' enough. The past few summers, I worked at Camp Hanover, a residential summer camp run by the Presbytery of the James. Camp Hanover has been a part of my life since I was six years old, and I love it. The summer camp director has a son who is about six years old. Last summer, he was obsessed with 'Tomato Lemonade.' Of course, no one really knew what tomato lemonade was, and it also doesn't sound particularly appetizing. But, he is such an adorable kid that everyone just went along with it. I have always remembered 'tomato lemonade' and loved the creativity and fun with which this little boy came up with it. So when I was trying to come up with a name for this blog, 'Tomato Lemonade' was thrown out, somewhat as a joke. But, I liked it. It was unique, it was rememberable, and it had a good story. Thus, Tomato Lemonade was born.

When I started looking through the themes for TL, I focused on yellow and red ones. I went through several, attempted customizing, but couldn't really find any that I liked much. I started looking at places other than wordpress and found one or two I really liked, but had a lot of trouble getting it to work. After much researching and many attempts, I just gave up and started looking back on wordpress again. I finally found the one I have now (TAKTEEK01 1.4.4) and through a little customization with the header and color choices, I have something I think I can work with. However, if anyone has figured out how to upload a new theme, I would be eternally grateful for some help! =D

As for plugins, I have also gone through MANY to figure out what I want and what looks good. I have a few saved for when I start posting non-assignment type posts (like a random image one) and a few that seem to work well. The RSS feed with my twitter and a tag cloud are pretty much the extent of what I have added, but I have looked at a lot and may add more. I tried a few with last.fm but I couldn't get them to work properly. Maybe it's my theme or maybe I am doing it wrong? Who knows. Wordpress is a new environment for me, and as someone used to LiveJournal, I miss a lot of what they have to offer sometimes. But, with every experience comes more knowledge and I look forward to seeing what this blog has to offer me and what I have to offer to the world.