Make It Easy by Using IWeb

IWeb is an application that Apple provides with macs. IWeb gives people the opportunity to make your own personal website. The first version of IWeb came out on January 10,2006 and is currently progressing. It gives users the opportunity to produce websites and blogs and are given the opportunity to customize as they please. IWeb is useful for making websites for business or personal purposes such as family. There is also an opportunity to link your websites through Facebook and Youtube.

Students can use Iweb as well. Students can produce podcasts or blogs. Blogging has become very popular and has progressed greatly. A student can communicate with his/her community about topics that they like to talk about. There are other sites online such as blogger.com to make a personal blog but Iweb gives the opportunity to make a blog, layout, or website to be customize rather than what is already provided. Young people are also starting to get more involved with issues around the world such as Africa or things such as fundraising. Young teens are beginning to be more proactive and participating and communicating with people around the world. IWeb can make this possible depending on what subject you like and what you want people to know. Get yourself out there!

IWeb consists of several different themes and layouts for your website. There a several different templates to choose from including your theme. It includes welcome, movie, blank, blog, blank, about me, my albums, and photo layouts. Depending on how complex your website will be. You can add more pages as you would like but it’s not required. IWeb is flexible to what you are trying to accomplish in your site. Features include, music, movies, photos, countdowns, etc. When you are finished with your website remember to edit your page and check everything before you publish it. Once you publish your site you have made a footprint online.

http://www.webhosteditor.com/tag/iweb/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWeb

http://www.apple.com/ilife/iweb/

Mo Money, Mo Problems

This weekend I went to the movies with one of my friends. It had been awhile since I had been to the movies. The last time I went the price was around $9-$10. Last night the price was $11! I couldn't believe how expensive my ticket was. When she told me the price, I felt like my eyes were about to pop out of my socket! I had also gotten gas at the beginning of the day. By that time I had spent over $30. This didn't even count dinner, which blows my mind. I know that the economy is horrible right now but $11 for a movie is ridiculous! Especially if a whole family went to the movies together, that would be at $50 total and if you bought food at the concession stand, you could spend over $100 in a couple of hours.

When I received my debit card I looked at money a lot differently than I used to because instead of it being my mom's money it was the money I earned. So, the value of the money that I have looks a lot different. Especially because I do not have that much at all therefore I need to use it wisely. I started to write down the things I was spending my card with and it didn't make any sense. So I started to cut back on what I was buying and if I didn't need it right then and there, than I won't get it. I also needed to do this soon before I would start spending money that I knew I didn't have.

Now I understand why my mom is not a fan of using credit cards. She uses debit more than credit. I have also learned that money is not something you messed around with. One minute you may all the money in the world. But if you don't keep up with what you're spending and spending it on unnecessary things, it will be gone before you know it.

In class the other day we learned how to make a screen cast! I thought it was going to be really hard and complicated but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be! You can either do a screen cast on your computer screen or record yourself. It's really cool actually. No wonder people on youtube can whip out a video every day! It amazes me how much you can do on a mac. Doing this has also made me more aware of how I speak and how I represent myself.

When I recorded myself for the first time I hated the way my voice sounded. I couldn't believe I actually sound the way I do. I was actually getting annoyed by my own voice! It has taught me to watch how I say things and especially to say all of my words clearly. I recorded myself at least three times until I heard one where I thought my voice was decent for this little project. I have more of an interest in screen casting, now that I have done one of my own. Maybe I will play around with it a little bit more.

Well, to give you guys a fair warning this video is rough because it's my first one. So remember E for effort on this one. :)

TiK ToK

For the past couple of months I realized how important it is not to waste time and how valuable it is. The older I get I feel as if time is moving faster. Before I know it graduation will be coming up and senior year will be over and will be getting ready for college. It's scary but at the same time exciting! New people, new places, new experiences.

I have also learned how important it is to make time for yourself. If we are constantly around people and going everywhere we never get a chance to grow. It is also hard for people to get time to themselves because of school, work, and extra curricular activities. Last year I was always doing something, going somewhere, school, or work. By the end of the year I was burned out! Giving time to myself has helped me grow and I feel that I have matured and have grown as a better person.

When you let yourself grow it is a big eye opener. I see things differently and view life differently as well. There will always be changes that are positive, but there will also be negative changes. You just have to role with the punches sometimes but it's okay.

Another thing that I am experiencing is inner happiness. I have found an inner happiness in myself and I love it. I don't let the little things bother me anymore. If something wasn't for me or it didn't work out, then that's how it is and move on. There are going to be people that come into your life and stay, and some that go out. You can't rely on people to make you happy or fill in the empty space that you may feel inside because in some cases it will not be there anymore. That is how it's going to be in the real world and it's something that I have gotten used to, quickly. Negative energy wastes too much time and it's not worth it. If it is for you, things will work out in itself. If not, than it's not good for you.

Screencasting, A Trending Topic

Yesterday in my Digital Communications class we learned about screen casts. Screen casts are starting to be a new popular way of communicating. Mrs. Runkel had us to do an activity where we watched a podcast and we were expected to follow the instructions. Our activity was to make the image that the screen caster was making. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. But it's nice because you are able to repeat the things that you didn't hear the first time. Or if you did not understand what he was asking you were able to go back and replay it. The speaker was talking pretty fast and I had to click pause every couple of seconds so I knew specifically where to go.

We also learned what was the difference between a good podcast and a bad one. There was one example Mrs.Runkel showed and they were a lot of distractions or the speaker did not know exactly where to go or how to say it which made it unclear. It shows that explaining concepts may not look as easy as you think they are. I also wanted to show two screen casts. I chose one screen cast that was good and one that was not as good.



I thought this video was good because there were no distractions and I was engaged the whole time. Even though there was not a speaker. They decided to use text instead, sometimes in this case it can be better especially if the speaker can not explain him/herself very well. The video was simple and also made its point.



This video is a tutorial on the computer game tetris. There is a lot of stuff going on here. There is music playing and there are paragraphs of texts telling you how to play the game with different colors and fonts. It's not good because there is too much going on. A reader will not be able to concentrate watching this because there is a song playing plus there are directions that are to be read. Eventually the reader will not pay attention at all. The video is pointless and does not accomplish what it needs to.