What was interesting about CT 101 was that I learned about several tools and items that we use every day and how to create them. These include, but are not limited to, GIFs, memes, websites, and website features. It was interesting to learn how seamless it is to create the aforementioned content. As I said, these are items we use daily and I never realized how easy they were to create. Although meme creation has existed for a while, I never thought to create my own because I usually just share the ones I find all over the internet and save them to my camera roll. These are skills I can now utilize to garner creative content and factor it into my career as a journalist. 

As for the grade I deserve… 

 

(That’s something I had to think long and hard about) 

In all honesty, I deserve between a B and a B+. I tried to keep up with assignments and gave it my all, but I wish I could have been better about the upkeep of the website. I definitely could have done more with it, because when I finally posted on it, it was about something I enjoyed doing and found it helpful to people who may be experiencing burnout. 

To piggyback off of my earlier statement, I enjoyed learning about creating these tools that are so seemingly ubiquitous. Particularly for website building, I’ll use these skills to create my own website for publishing reporting/blogging content. I already have a website for this, but it’s a bit more casual, where I use it for school and freely as a blog where I post my own content. If I ever have a blog that has a specific niche, then I’ll consider using these skills. 

As for maintaining the site, I’m not sure. To be honest, I don’t think so at this point. I would like to have a blog with a specific purpose, as I never intended my blog for CT 101 to have a specific purpose. It was hard trying to pinpoint what the website would be about in the first place, and it’s not the most pressing issue on my mind right now, especially given that it’s the end of the semester, summer is on the horizon and I’m thinking about my senior year and graduate school. 

Usage of my website: Upon creating the website, I really did not have a certain direction for it. However, over time, I realized it didn’t have to be specific to a certain theme and I decided to just go with whatever came to mind. My interests, hobbies, thoughts, etc. are what I put into my website and what I would continue to include if I use it in the future. As for what I succeeded in with my site, I think constructing one in the first place would be a huge success. I believe doing anything for the first time warrants success, and everyone should take pride in that. Of course, with the success, came frustrations. 

One frustration, which I mentioned before, was trying to give the site a purpose, which I eventually overcame. Another frustration is one I still have today. I honestly wish I did more with the site in terms of content. I think if I stuck to using it each week to share my interests, hobbies and thoughts, it could have been a way for me to “vent” to the world, and also serve as something I could use to ease my mind, rather than look at it as an obligation for a class. 

A meme I made earlier in the semester based on a joke from the same Spongebob episode pictured here.

ANOTHER ONE! *DJ KHALED VOICE* 

I’m sure the CUNY student pictured above is all dust instead of bones at this point

 

One of my favorite GIFs discovered on giphy this year. This what I’ll be saying once finals are over and I am officially declared… A SENIOR!!

(My own GIFs:) 

My brain during finals week 

Me when the summer begins 

This quote from Larry Lessig’s TED Talk stood out to me:

“I’m talking about people taking and recreating, using other people’s content using digital technologies to say things differently,” said Lessig, adding that although media has done this since the birth  of television, it’s something that anyone can do as long as they have access to a computer, calling it “democratized.” “These tools of creativity have become tools of speech. It is literacy for this generation. This is how our kids speak, this is how our kids think. It is what our kids are, as they increasingly understand digital technologies and their relationships to themselves.”

If you noticed, this TED Talk is from 2007, right around the time social media started to take over our world. Social media started to become ubiquitous around this time, where pretty much everyone knew what platforms such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and some became familiar with a new kid on the block, A.K.A, Twitter. My point is, with social media, came the frequent use of GIFs and memes to spread information in the form of creative or entertaining content, which aligns with Lessig’s point of “tools of creativity have become tools of speech.”

Kids or kids who are now adults that grew up with the frequent use of memes, Vines or TikTok videos are using these tools to communicate ideas or facts, and in reality do define themselves through these platforms and content, as terms such as “YouTubers”, “influencers”, “TikTok Star” have emerged as modern terminology.

Copyright exists to prevent others from taking someone’s original work and using it without their permission.

I believe everything should be done carefully and with consideration when it comes to copyright. Follow that website or user’s guidelines when it comes to copyright and you should be fine. Sometimes you have to recognize and know where to find these guidelines, especially if you are into using others’ content for your own purposes.

Fair use allows the unlicensed use of copyrighted content to be used in another form, such as creative content. Examples of this are provided in the anime remix and the George W. Bush remix video in the Lessig TED Talk.

As for Andy Baio and his experience with fair use and the law, it seems as if fair use isn’t just allowing unlicensed use. There are caveats and judging by his case, it’s quite contentious.

As the story goes, Baio used the cover of Jay Maisel’s photo of Miles Davis’ album Kind of Blue and attempted to convert it into pixel art.  He gets a friend to do this after he couldn’t do it successfully. In turn, he gets sued by Maisel and his attorneys, demanding $150k for infringement and  $32,500 for the violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

From Baio’s article about the experience, here are the factors included in his own words:

Factor 1: “Has the material you have taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning? Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights, and understandings?”

Factor 2: “The second fair use factor is the nature of the copyrighted work. Works that are published and factual lean towards fair use works that are unpublished and creative towards infringement.”

Factor 3: “Although the illustration does represent the cover of Kind of Blue, it does so at a dramatically reduced resolution that incorporates few of the photograph’s protectable elements. Courts routinely find fair use even where the entirety of an image is used.”

Factor 4: “The impact on the market value of the original work. It’s obvious the illustration isn’t a market substitute for the original: it’s a low-resolution artistic rendering in the style of 8-bit computer graphics that is, at best, of interest to a few computer enthusiasts.”

As for the fair use guidelines set by the government, provided by Baio:

1. The purpose and character of your use: Was the material transformed into something new or copied verbatim? Also, was it for commercial or educational use?
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market

Fair use all seems so technical and really does, as Lessig argues, impede on creative control. Baio makes the argument on his website, “You shouldn’t have to ask permission to create something effectively new,” and it essentially sums up this whole assignment and Lessig’s TED Talk.

 

 

 

 

 

Burn Out– It’s All Too Real This Year

Create your website with blocks

Burn Out– It’s All Too Real This Year

 

So I’ve posted on my blog for the first time, and I’m still getting used to the whole thing, so bear with me! I’m still trying to get the creative juices flowing!

 

You won’t see much in the post, just a quick intro on what the thought process was in creating the site and what I plan on using it for. I mentioned that viewers expect posts related to my interests, daily thoughts and feelings, and nostalgia.

For example, some things on my mind as of late:

• Mental health, especially during a pandemic
• Activities I plan on doing during the summer and local places I want to visit in my free time
• The things we reminisce on from childhood days, whether it be music, TV shows, movies, games, experiences, hobbies, etc.

Essentially, anything that comes to mind, that I may feel obligated to share with the world. I’m choosing these random items because you never know–someone else may have the same ideas and may want to engage in something relatable. So, I’ve created a platform for that and I’m proud of it!

 

So now I have this website, but… I’m still not TOTALLY sure what I’m going to do with it.

GIF via GIPHY

I’m thinking I can use it as another site to post some of my published works from. However, I would like to use it for more creative means, but I’m not exactly sure what that would be. I’d honestly have to put more thought into it.

GIF via GIPHY

(My brain when trying to come up with ideas for my new blog)

Any advice, tips, or trending things I should follow?

So I finally made a website… from SCRATCH! It was honestly quite seamless, taking just minutes to do.

I ended up using the name “justtypeit.net” as a domain name because it is the most neutral name out of the ones I had ideas for. Just in case I ended up changing the theme/purpose of the site.

On an unrelated note, upon setting up the website you get a lot of automatic emails related to verification and confirmation among other things I didn’t check for cause there were so many. I almost thought I was getting hacked!

How am I doing in CT101? What grade do I believe I am maintaining? 

We’ve reached the midpoint of our semester where many of us are reminded of the halfway distance towards freedom, whether it’s freedom from York because graduation, or freedom from the strain of distance learning. However, we’re also assessing how we might be doing and where we may need to pick up the slack before closing the book on this semester. For me in CT 101, I’d say I’m doing just average. I could be doing a hell of a lot better for sure. So maybe– a B.

What I’ve learned, most of all, would be how one can harness creativity in something as mundane as a class assignment. This  is a class where creativity in a class assignment is appreciated, and I do appreciate that myself. I don’t often get the chance to be creative with my writing as a journalism major. I think the greatest asset I’ve gained from the class so far is that I’m learning to use many tools that have existed on the internet that I’ve never used before, such as meme generators. 

(I’m not one to create memes, I usually just laugh and share them). 

As of this point in the semester, I’ve used my CT 101 digital skills to embed and create GIFs, generate memes, and explore meanings of art that go beyond the stroke of a paintbrush, pencil, pen or whichever artistic utensil you choose to create art with. 

If I take the time to self-reflect and examine my performance, I would say I could use some improvement. There’s two assignments I’m missing, which includes the ds106 project. I kind of felt overwhelmed by that particular one and didn’t know where to start. Definitely should have reached out for help on that one…

There were TONS of things I didn’t know prior to the class. Some of it I mentioned before, like the meme generator websites to memes being a form of art. Maybe that last one was more of a “realization.”

I definitely see my weekly posts becoming more creative but more in thought than actual content, such as my last post with the domain names. I could definitely work on the content aspect, but part of it is just me, admittedly, slacking on some of the work. But each post is different, so you’ll get a different outcome for all of them, especially depending on how passionate you may be for a select post. 

 

Here are some domain name ideas I had for my new website:

1. Powertothepress.com

There’s a saying, “power to the people,” but I think it’s also fair to use “power to the press,” the “press” being the voice I have as a journalist/reporter.

2. Bethebridge.com

This domain name comes from part of a quote by the late Cameron Boyce, who was an inspiration of mine growing up watching the Disney Channel. The quote reads as, “Many people have the heart to give back, but a lot don’t know how to. I try to be the bridge for people— whether that means getting them involved in one of my campaigns or inspiring them by showing them a blueprint of how others get engaged.”

That quote really stands out to me, as it shows how much of a leader Cameron was as well, and moves me to be a leader as well.

3. justtypeit.org

Almost like the Nike saying, “Just Do It,” I like to say, just type it! Sometimes I procrastinate– well, VERY OFTEN I procrastinate, especially when it comes to typing articles for class assignments or for the school paper because I know it’s going to take a long time to do. I guess just seeing the domain name will remind me to not slack off.

4. Layitoutforme.com

My job as a reporter is to give the facts in the story, and make it easier for people to understand issues that seem really complex–basically, weeding out all the fluff and presenting the basic information, laying out the story. This goes hand in hand with the “Bethebridge” domain name, and part of the quote which mentions showing a “blueprint” in how others can get involved in whatever action they want to pursue. With this website, I would want to layout societal issues in which people can understand them, and also give them a way to become active.

5. Equitablewritesforall.com

Equality is great but when everyone has equity,–(defined as treating people based on what they need in society), it’s a much better world! We need to talk more about equity and who needs what, (letting the facts and communities be the dictator of that).

 

All of the names listed are tied to social justice/activism and journalism. I believe that as someone who is inspired by both of those entities, they can always come together to be inspirations for people, and in particular, have both been inspirations for me.

Just based on the domain names, my new website would be exactly about those two ideas– journalism and activism intertwining.

I don’t have a particular “favorite” website anymore, (had a couple as a kid) but I do find myself spending lots of time on YouTube each day look at new content from different channels whether it’s news media or explainer videos or reviews on shows or products. I enjoy it all and can access all of it from one site.

Here are some examples of the different things I “explore” on my “favorite” website:

Vox is a digital media company that produces several “explainer” videos that I think are really informative for the average person who isn’t paying much attention to issues circulating the mainstream media. The quality of their content was one of my inspirations for being a journalist.

(You should definitely give that video on the Texas energy grid system a watch!!)

VICE is another digital media company I grew a fascination with, around the same time as Vox. I appreciate their reporting style as well, on many abstract and often underreported topics. This one caught my eye, about the rise of conservative idols in the country, going hand-in-hand with the increasing polarization experienced in American politics.

(Note: I certainly DO NOT endorse any images presented in the above photo)

Looking for an apartment in NYC with useful tips on what to search for? Look no further than Cash Jordan! I certainly can’t afford a long-term rental property right now, but just for curiosity’s sake, I am subscribed to Cash Jordan. He’s super snarky and infuses joy in the mundane task of apartment hunting!

As for how I feel–uh, not much different because I’ve owned a website before with another class that I’ve taken that required me to have my own website for news writing. However, this is something new, so I guess this website would come with a different vibe and/or purpose to it.