Tag: cuny

Assignment #1 Example Fun with Ryan

an animated gif of the woodside train station in queens nyc
 

Assignment #1 Example Fun with Ryan

I’m excited to be back and teaching again!

Here we are in the Spring semester of 2023. I have a particular love for teaching CT101 at York College!

“CT” is short for Communications Technology, and the course is called “Digital Storytelling”.. (I know, the name of the course says it all!) It has quite a bit of history and I will share more on its origins soon. CT101 makes me happy. CT101 takes place on the Internet!

I love this class because it can literally help and inspire everyone. There is something here that everyone can learn and benefit from while also helping others evolve collectively. I say and mean everyone because lets face it, “we” spend a lot of time using the Internet..

Its a relationship, really!

We can all benefit from learning new digital tools, techniques, applications of self-expression and participating in a cross CUNY community here on the commons. (Which is a piece of the Internet that makes me happy! Oh I already said that..) CT101 puts an emphasis on creating and publishing content to a class blog whilst experimenting with what the potentials of “what a blog post can be”…

This also makes me happy. WordPress makes me happy!

What is making you happy on the Internet this Week?

So here we are, officially jumping into CT101 this second week. We have a ton of great stuff to cover, learn, share, create, apply, rinse and repeat this semester!

Assignment #1 asks you to share; What is making you happy on the Internet?  We can do cool things like hyperlink text and verbiage.. We can make an image or ten, an animated GIF like the one above and below – also a “clickable thing” that redirects to another page or place on the Internet. That IDEA in and or itself makes me very happy! So in essence, the creative and practical functionality of the Internet as a whole makes me really happy.

The Internet archive makes me happy too! (did you know about this?) Jump in and go waaaaaaay down the Internet cultural rabbit hole!

Lets dig a bit deeper..

The GIF above is taken from my profile on GIPHY. (go ahead and click on the image of the hyperlinked word to find my “stock” of animated GIFS. You can use them and embed them almost anywhere on the web. Thats the beauty of GIPHY.com – its a search engine for animated GIFs and animated Stickers, like I said, its Internet culture and Internet culture makes me happy! Website’s like Giphy have a lot of utility, they give us the opportunity to share our emotions and feelings through looping visual imagery. This helps me express myself in so many ways. Giphy.com makes me happy this week!

a screen shot of the giphy.com home page at the moment

 

I love to make animated GIFS! And guess what, you are going to learn how to make them in our class! I love GIFs and I feel that they are a huge part of Internet culture. Come on now, we all love animated GIFS! I made most of the GIFs in this blog post. These are just a few of the many of thousands that I have made (did I say thousands? Yikes, its true, I cant stop!) I blame Professor Michael B. Smith for this as he got me into GIFs and making them! Be sure to check out his blog here.

OK, so those are a few things that are making me happy on the Internet as well as a few ways that I use the Internet. Let’s get started!

PS – Did you notice the formatting for this blog post? Notice how my images are the same size and how everything has been aligned to the left? This is intentional and it helps the viewer/reader easily absorb the content. You too will learn how to apply a similar format, though it may see a bit tricky to manage at first, you will easily get the hang of it!

 

 

The WordPress Customizing Series, Part 1

The WordPress Customizing Series, Part 1!

***Below is the zoom recording from classes on 4/13 & 4/15 – you can follow along and start customizing your site!***

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/jjU48Kv-JcRyrvqxv1vbRmY3sOA2zPami_gBFI9ebTLSj8rMQJkuU9ehPKFgyB6k.2eK3cZjQUu2TXlYj

Video Passcode: ^0EJ5T8q

From Thursday’s class on 4/15 is below

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/AUOBOl1_cd5fAEMNMN1veRsLrNYpTC9ghBrkmSGinSBsojeoEXInWPoAyxBOcVle.AHmr2-Wh1VkOtCPn

Video Passcode: !$2pj7h=

This week in CT101 we will be focusing on getting everyone set-up with their new websites! The coupon code that you need was sent last week to your York e-mail. By now, many of you got started, you have a new domain name, a web hosting account, and a website framework ready to be built and customized! Ill be helping here with the customizing process of WordPress. This part will have multiple aspects to it. There is a lot to share, create and test. The process is fun and will take a few weeks as you make several visual and functionality decisions about how you would like your website to look. This is play out in context to “how” you also plan to use your new website.

**So, lets publish a NEW blog post this week that shares a statement about HOW you will be using your new website as we go forward. You can publish this post here on the CT101 class site.

My ambition is to make a new series of “how-to” class videos and also share some helpful curated  content from the Internet. We will be discussing HOW we will all be using our websites individually, just to mention again 🙂

But WAIT! You cant do anything above unless you have done this: -> Domain Name Registration, Hosting Set Up & WordPress Installation! <— Please read this important post to get started! (from last week)

Im going to focus on using a popular new WordPress theme called “Twenty-Twenty-One” – this theme is extremely versatile and is great for wordpress newbies and beginners. I highly suggest that you consider using this theme. All themes are different, and many of them out there promoted on the Internet are not free (plus, its always helpful to start with a theme that has a good amount of video documentation that already exists.)

More to come!

 

PLEASE E-MAIL me and say hello, let me know how I can help you! rseslow@york.cuny.ed

Assignment #2 – Making our first GIF post!

Making our first GIF & GIF Post Narratives!

Assignment #2 – (scroll down for the full video tutorial)

Exciting times! Lets make some GIFS and explore the history, contexts and potentials of this Internet Culture Sensation! GIFs are obviously here to stay! How far will they go?

But First, and Importantly:

What makes a successful, compelling and engaging Blog Post?

We have a contrast and a result to work from now that we have published out first assignment, looking back, did you cover all of these aspects listed below? (you can always edit and update your existing posts!)

Good Blogging:

  • is thoughtful with your post titles –  How will your audience know what the post is about if you don’t make this clear and engaging?
  • giving your opinions, feelings, insights & philosophies – Ct101 is a platform for you to share, express and discover the potentials of creative writing through media and narratives.
  • backing up your resources, inspiration and research with links, we need to see where the information has come from.
  • proof reading your grammar and punctuation. Its OK to work stylistically, but it should be kept consistent.
  • and always embedding cool media that’s made or found from elsewhere to give context and keep the audience engaged.
  • what could we add to this list?

(you can click on the images above and they will re-direct you to their websites. I did this by selecting the “custom URL” option in the media / image uploading specifications area and added the URL)

Imgur and Giphy are great platforms to explore and create GIFS with! They have a HUGE repository to choose from! In our Zoom class this week (week #3) lets check out both of these platforms in a series of live video tutorials, both Imgur & Giphy are free to use and work with. (You can sign up for your own account, both are free) Lets experiment with both platforms this week as we work on this post. Be sure to share our thoughts on what you think about both, did one work better for you? If so, what were those features?

**Below is the class video tutorial for week #3. Referring back to the video will be helpful in completing the assignment.

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ER42WjcquO8P9pefKRSi93iV_ujNABYb58bbnCeabTzhprI12PhWm4DQYlsWej8V.na_p_hAUhRoOyNiU

Passcode: LO^q8s&$

*The Assignment Details:

Lets publish a NEW BLOG POST of your own and comment on one of your Classmate’s GIF Posts!

This week – lets create a NEW blog post using your CT101 Author access on our class website and embed a series of new Reaction GIF s that narrates your feelings about our CT101 class so far! How can you tell your story in GIFs so far?

Think about these questions; What did you think on the first day of the CT101? Did you like hearing about the course and its creative content? How does CT101 compare to some of your other classes? Also, address what the potentials of this class are?! (yes, you can make this post as long you wish and make it flow like a story – This assignment description that you are reading is also a BLOG post example of the assignment!) Each reaction GIF that you use should be accompanied by a sentence or two or three of verbiage to help describe the GIF and narrative you are communicating.

**And be sure to also comment on one of your Classmate’s GIF Posts!

Here is an example of me responding in GIF expressing above : “Demonstrations and examples will be shared and executed in our class Zoom lab time, don’t miss it!” (and if you do miss it, Ill post the video tutorial from class here below) Sinister audio fades in and out as Skeletor GIFs himself into oblivion!

Lets get started!

**PS – Here is a handy tutorial on how to make a GIF from a YouTube URL using Imgur from Prof. Smith a few years back –  My first GIF post

How do you say it / pronounce it? Gi-f or Ji-f?

The battle continues! And the Internet will not ever let us 

Oh, and what about some GIF history?

Here is the WIKI for the GIF file format – its a good read.

Smithsonian – History of the GIF

Mashables take on the History of the GIF

A good article for WIRED on the 30th Birthday of the GIF

**In case you missed it above – Below is the class video tutorial for week #3. Referring back to the video will be helpful in completing the assignment.

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ER42WjcquO8P9pefKRSi93iV_ujNABYb58bbnCeabTzhprI12PhWm4DQYlsWej8V.na_p_hAUhRoOyNiU

Passcode: LO^q8s&$

Welcome to CT101 – Digital Storytelling! Spring 2021

an old TV from the 1980s hosts the Digital Storytelling course title program

Welcome Everyone!

I hope that you are safe and healthy! Here we are:

CT101 – Digital Storytelling! The Spring Semester of 2021

Ok, this blog post is a lot things, but first and foremost it is a welcoming! Im excited to meet everyone and share our 1st class session to connect and learn about each other. That’s Nyle DiMarco below, he’s a Deaf Actor and Artist, he is showing us how to say: “Nice to Meet You” in American Sign Language. Im also Deaf and Hard of Hearing, so you can expect to learn some ASL and see more ASL GIFs this semester! I hope that you like animated GIFS, we are going use a lot of them here, and make them too! We are going to spend a lot of time discussing ways that we communicate.

an animated GIF of Nyle DiMarco signing "Nice to Meet You" in American Sign Language

There is a lot of compelling content to cover, which will happen in many ways! Lets start this week with a real time Zoom class at 10AM (the zoom link and PW is already posted on our Blackboard course page and sent as an announcement to your CUNY e-mail address.) Keep in mind, there are two individual sections of this course that both follow the same assignment criteria and also uses the same class website. You are only required to follow the day and section that you registered for, but if you wish, you can join in more. I will explain all of this as we go forward with our first week or two of classes.

**This is the direct URL / Link to our class Website – https://ct101.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

That link above, that is where EVERYTHING is happening for CT101. 

kermit the frog rigorously typing - animated GIF

The Class Structure – CT101 will be taught both synchronously and asynchronously and you will decide what method works best for you. I am here to help you be the best that you can be in our course. And we are all here to do the same for each other. Our class is a community! The nature of our course is already acquainted with the structure that you see here. (This Internet thing…) A big part of our class is exploring your creativity and being experimental with the Internet! Plus, we will learn about the evolving array of digital tools that are available to us. We do quite a bit of the creative work from our own personal work spaces as we integrate the class work into our lives. Please know, I will screen-record each and every assignment’s description, how-to’s and tutorials and share those videos here on our website. Please think of this website as a repository of information, energy and inspiration for the course (and beyond!)

The Class Website – Our class website takes place on the CUNY Academic Commons! You will soon discover that the Commons is a huge resource and regular source of inspiration and community! Im excited to share this with you all.

**This Week’s Assignment – In the comments section below (scroll down to the bottom of the page) Lets leave our first Comment. Introduce yourself! Tell us a bit about yourself, What is your name? What you are studying here at York College and anything else that you wish to share (favorite movies, activities, ice cream flavor perhaps? Favorite place to visit on the web? What are you most interested in at this moment? Etc..) Feel free to add links too!

**PS -I moderate all the comments to make sure that spam bots don’t spam us into oblivion! If may take a few minutes before your comment shows up, no need to submit it twice if you don’t see it appear right away :))

Also, please explore this website, read through the syllabus and some of the course resources, it will be super helpful in the next coming weeks.

 

Its Time to share Your Website in Progress!

Its Time to share Your Website in Progress!

This week in CT101 we will share and explore each others websites, learn about creating “categories” and “custom links” and how to add them to your websites navigation menu structure. Of course I will record this process during Zoom and post the video here after.

**Here is the Video Recording from this Week’s Zoom Session – 

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ABOgmZmTrcTV0IKcy7ez0cLGtpR04G5tI0hBeTguapK-QG8GTrzTC3-qWCzfG6Tv.TlhsbwTvqot21Ibi

Passcode: YJ!x7?.3

Here we are 3 plus weeks into being the proud owners of a shiny new Website! We are customizing our pages, building menu navigation, tweaking colors and fonts, and blogging away into oblivion! Exciting!

The Assignment for this week:

First: Its time to share your website’s URL, please add it to the comments section below in this blog post (My example is already there as an example)

Simply leave a comment below sharing your website’s address and press the Post Comment button!

Be sure to include the –  http://  part.   (some of your have added https:// – thats OK too)

Here is an example–>  http://your-website-url.com 

This is my example of my website URL – https://ryanseslow.com

Second: Explore some of the website’s of your fellow classmates! Leave them a comment, or two about their progress directly on their website! Then, write a blog post here on CT1010 OR on your own new website sharing your thoughts and feedback about discovering your classmate’s websites. Be sure to include their URL in your post (and hyperlink it!) What do you like about the websites that you discovered? Did you find a favorite blog post, or project? Share it! Give some feedback!

And, Why are we doing this?

Well, to share our development, support for each other and their process of course! Maybe your classmates and peers missed your last few posts and are in need of some feedback, inspiration and contrast. Lets dig in!

 

Mid-Semester Assessments & WordPress Customizing Part 2!

(GIF by Erica Anderson)

Mid-Semester Assessments & WordPress Customizing Part 2!

And just like that, here we are at the mid-point of the semester! Time really does move fast, or does it? Either way, we are learning a lot and growing together!

**Please scroll down to screen the full recording from this week’s class with WordPress customizations Part 2!**

The Assignment for this Week:

In a new blog post that will be published to here to CT-101, I would like for you to reflect upon our current semester. Lets tell a compelling story about what we have learned thus far. What have been some of the main skills that have been discovered, learned and applied? What do you know now that you did not know before the class began? What are your strengths so far? What do you need to work on and make improvements on? To date, we have had the opportunity to publish a series of blog posts that allow us to speak creatively in our own authentic voices, how have the assignments helped you as a communicator? It would be a good idea to review and reference your existing posts and even quote to hyperlink back to a few of them. What grade do you feel you have earned so far in our class? Self assessment is important, it helps us become aware and take action from that perspective and energy. We took a big step last week by registering a new domain name, setting up a web hosting account and even began customizing our personal websites! Please include in this reflection post your domain name and “how” you plan to use your website as we go forward. Make sure to include the hyperlink to your websites URL – for example, here is mine: https://ryanseslow.com

Have Fun with This!

PART II – More WordPress customizing, tricks, tips and techniques!

Last week in class we covered an introduction to the customizing of the Twenty Seventeen WordPress theme for our new websites!

(In case you missed it, here is the first video recording from that session, it is a good idea to watch this first if you haven’t)

During the zoom sessions this week I will be continuing another series of customizing tips, tricks, and techniques for working with wordpress. We will remove all default theme content, create new pages, set up a contact me form, embed or add social media posts into your website and more!

**Here is the full recording from this week’s class with WordPress customizations Part 2!

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/DtdOCR3K2XNQksnD55FntCG_HD0VvCYuZhUBnjv-KKw1d8ZA0dozQItw9SGfelxU.uBxS2uhPxlorKCd_

Passcode: 1jD!c19P

The WordPress Website Customizing Series, Part 1

The WordPress Website Customizing Series, Part 1!

***Below is zoom recording from class on 10/22 – follow along and start customizing your site!***

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/j2nfWS4TNu5pYevssjvIGfz2TY7VDRfw0VayrvWJaq7u-dLIi-SgkM3IoIiYbbc9.VCKxaHQdttPmewT1

Video Passcode: Fja3@X!1

This week in CT101 we will be focusing on getting everyone set-up with their new website! You have a new domain name, a web hosting account, and a website ready to be built! Ill be helping with the customizing process of WordPress. This part will have multiple aspects to it. There is a lot to share, create and test. The process is fun and will take a few weeks as you make several visual and functionality decisions about how you would like your website to look. My ambition is to make a new series of “how-to” class videos and also share some helpful curated  content from the Internet. We will be discussing HOW we will all be using our websites individually too!

But WAIT! You cant do this unless you have done this: -> Registering your domain name, setting up web hosting and installing wordpress to the domain! Its time to build our websites!  <— Please read this important post to get started! (from last week)

Im going to focus on using a popular WordPress theme called “Twenty-Seventeen” – this theme is extremely versatile and is great for wordpress beginners. The videos below are also tutorials on using the Twenty-Seventeen theme. I highly suggest that you consider using this theme. All themes are different, and many of them out there promoted on the Internet are not free (plus, its always helpful to start with a theme that has a good amount of video documentation that already exists, like the videos below)

More to come!

Here are a few more videos that also are very helpful for working with wordpress and the twenty seventeen theme:

PLEASE E-MAIL me and say hello, let me know how I can help you! rseslow@york.cuny.ed

The Internet’s Own Boy – Reflection Post

For a longer reflection post,

We would like you to watch the portrait documentary of Aaron Swartz, The Internet’s Own Boy. Swartz was a prodigy web developer that participated in some seminal web projects – RSS, Creative Commons licensing, and Reddit.

He founded Demand Progress which successfully campaigned against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) with a broadly adopted 24 hour internet blackout of well know sites like Wikipedia. Swartz was later arrested by M.I.T. police for systematically downloading thousands of academic articles from JSTOR and federal prosecuted with charges of wire fraud and 11 violations of the Computer Abuse and Fraud Act. Facing possible jail time, Swartz committed suicide at the age of 26.

Larry Lessig who was a mentor, colleague, and friend to the much younger Swartz commemorated his life and work with Lessig’s appointment as Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School with a lecture titled “Aaron’s Laws: Law and Justice in a Digital Age.” 

**Assignment – In a new blog post, find a moment in either the documentary about Swartz or the Lessig talk that you relate to as an important idea/moment in Swartz’s work as a programmer and/or activist. Tell us why you find it significant and find/make a visual artifact that represents your thinking as well and embed it in the post.

Picking a Domain Name!

Domain Names!

It’s time to choose a domain name  that can represent your digital self! <– (we will watch this video in Zoom class together)

You can’t (and shouldn’t) pick just anything.. this is important!

It has to be unique and also available! It should be relevant – it could be based on your real name, a nickname and or something meaningful to you.

You will need to search for its availability using a domain registrar and you can pick from a number of different ‘top level domains (TLD)’ – for example .com, .net, .us, and .org – then you can have an example like – “mypersonalsite.net”

As we go forward to select and register our domain names (don’t do this on your own please, I will be walking you through the process in class next week!) You’re also going to need web hosting, which will allow you to put files up online and will be discoverable through your new domain name! We are going to use a form of ‘shared hosting’ where you get a portion of a server – think of it as having an apartment in a building. With this shared hosting you will be able to do a lot of things including installing your own instance of WordPress! (via WordPress.org and not wordpress.com – they are a lil different)  With wordpress installed you can then start building your website for your domain name. I will cover a series of demonstrations on how to do this and I will record all of the demonstrations and tutorials.

We use a company called Reclaim Hosting, with which we have a contract with so you can enter a coupon code and start your account for free.

The coupon code will be e-emailed to everyone starting next week – so I will be reminding you to check your York college e-mail address to get the code.

**This Week’s Blog Post Assignment: Write a blog post that shares a few of the potential domain names that you would consider using for your website. List them and say a few words about why they would be good examples for the website that you will build. 

What will your new website be about? This part is totally up to you! If you wish, you can use the website project itself for a specific project, for example, perhaps you want to share your passion for cooking and poetry. Which means you will be primarily writing blog posts about cooking and poetry. This can also be applied to sports, or gaming, or politics or journalism, or simply put, website that fused together many interests as well as your ct101 assignments.  Share your thoughts, excitements, fears and any other sentiments about how you are feeling about this next chapter in your life as a website owner! Please include a few hyperlinks and or screen shots of some of your favorite websites, let us know why you like them! 

Assignment 4 DS106 Assignment!

Today I will be working on the DS106 Assignment Bank

Click on the photo above!

In terms of my two selections I picked one visual and one mashup

Here is my visual assignment!

I picked this visual poster because I thought it would be something

cool to do later on in the future. Customizing a current poster and making

it silly always seems like a fun idea.

Next is my mashup assignment!


For this assignment I have picked this because I thought it would

be cool to take two brands and mash them together.

This is the assignment I will be doing!

The photo above is my take on the mashup assignment.

I combined both the McDonald’s slogan I’m loving it with Dunkin Donuts.

I felt that these two slogans go well together and it just seemed fun to do

 

Assignment 3: Are MEMES Art?

Are Memes Art? Hmmmm

Absolutely, memes are indeed art. Memes are a way

for the person to truly express themselves and show there creativity

towards a certain topic and it is here to stay!

Among us is a free mobile/PC game that just came out.

It is pretty much mafia but in space and you have to find the killer

Here some memes from this game that is trending everywhere, it’s  hilarious!

Here is a youtube video from my channel playing among us with my friends!

Now besides Among Us here is a classic meme!

Lebron’s face and frustration towards JR Smith taking the ball to the opposite direction. No one really know what was going on inside this man’s head costing the championship game (click here)

Okay geez… I get it.. your waiting for my CT 101 meme

here you go!

Are Internet Memes ART??

Are Internet Memes ART? 

Let’s discuss!

(please don’t start this assignment until after 9/17 at 12pm)

First – (lets screen the video above in class and then later read the article below for more context.)

Second – The Assignment Details:

Do an Internet search for “Are memes ART?” See what you discover. No matter how you cut it, memes are here to stay…is this good or bad for Art? Is this good or bad for communication? Are memes simply just forms of self-expression? Or are they MORE? Well, why or why not? I want to know what you think. And by all means plan to search for, discover and share your favorites existing Memes via an image or URL, or embed them into a new blog post for this coming week. How will craft a narrative between using Memes and your own personal experiences?

Oh, and, you MUST create your own meme to express your sentiments for our CT101 class! Be sure to include the words “CT101” in your meme!

Perhaps, you will say “CT101 be like…”

OR, “What if I told you that CT101….”

All of this nestles quite well into in new Blog post! (thats your assignment!) Please consider the formatting of this blog post that you are reading right now. Notice how we see a mixture of images, video and hyperlinks that help give context and reference to where we are drawing resources from. (wink).

Some Online Tools for making Memes:

Giphy.com – (create a free account)

Imgur.com – (create a free account)

Make a Meme – work with some of the Internet’s classic templates

Mashable’s top 6 Meme Maker Picks – various tools

More Insight on MEMEs:

The Wiki Definition(s)

A good synopsis via how-to-geek.com

Another Take via theVerge.com

————————————————–

***The CT101 Meme Project will later be exhibited on the NET-ART website as a collaboration project!  Check out some of the other projects on display there now – https://netart.commons.gc.cuny.edu/galleries-exhibitions/

————————————————–

Are Memes the Pop Culture Art of our Era? Kate Knibbs

(I know, I know, its a dream come true assignment!)

Have fun!

**The Zoom class video recording and tutorials for Week #4 are below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/lbBYOGVc3Kry9e3yeSXuq_UxhJfMmASPlDDikARtcBvBp01Sja1g2yy1JBavqVWB.6pYKV27GoDZ8gIEl

Passcode: %AE5h!&D

Assignment #2 – Making our First GIF Post!

Making our first GIF & GIF Post Narrative!

Assignment #2 – (scroll down for the full video tutorial)

Exciting times! Lets make some GIFS and explore the contexts and potentials of this Internet Culture Sensation! GIFs are here to stay!

Imgur and Giphy are great platforms to explore and create with! They have a HUGE repository of animated GIFS to choose from! In our Zoom class this week (week #3) lets check out both of these platforms in a series of live video tutorials, both Imgur & Giphy are free to use and work with. (you can sig up for an account for free too) I will post the class video here in this post after the Thursday 9/9 section of the class.

The Assignment Details: BLOG POST!

This week lets create a NEW blog post using your Author access on our class website and embed a series of new Reaction GIF s that narrates your feelings about our CT101 class so far! Think about these questions,; What did you think on the first day of the CT101? Did you like hearing about the course and its creative content? How does CT101 compare to some of your other classes? Also, address what the potentials of this class are?! (yes, you can make this post as long you wish and make it flow like a story – This assignment description that you are reading is also a BLOG post example of the assignment!) Each reaction GIF that you use should be accompanied by a sentence or two or three of verbiage to help describe the GIF and narrative you are communicating.

Here is an example of me responding in GIF expressing: “Demonstrations and examples will be shared and executed in our class Zoom lab time, don’t miss it!” (and if you do miss it, Ill post the video from class here below)

Lets get started!

**PS – Here is a handy tutorial on how to make a GIF from a YouTube URL using Imgur from Prof. Smith a few years back –  My first GIF post

*Here is the full video below from Thursday’s class on 9/9

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/j0FW8xg5doniFXmOTxi8JFupjAZHe_MYoIjrKD-vzDmtyAFuO1yDo4omraK_ilA1.-cZ7mFb35iD6x_vO

Passcode: M3BV3&w%

 

<——- snip transmission ———->

How do you say it / pronounce it? Gi-f or Ji-f?

The battle continues!

Oh, and what about some GIF history?

Here is the WIKI for the GIF file format – its a good read.

Smithsonian – History of the GIF

Mashables take on the History of the GIF

A good article for WIRED on the 30th Birthday of the GIF

 

Assignment #1 – Prof. Seslow’s Example – Internet Happiness

I have to say, Im super excited to be back to teaching again! Here we are in the “remote” Fall semester of 2020. I feel lucky and grateful to be teaching simultaneously between 4 colleges here in NYC. I have a particular love for teaching CT101 at York College though.. CT is short for Communications Technology, and the course is called “Digital Storytelling”. (I know, the name of the course says it all!) It has quite a bit of history and I will share more on its origins soon. I love this class because it can literally help everyone. There is something here for all.. I say and mean everyone because lets face it, “we all” spend a lot of time using the Internet. We can all benefit from learning new digital tools, techniques, applications of self expression and participating in a cross CUNY community here on the commons. CT101 puts an emphasis on working with and publishing content to a class wordpress based blog whilst experimenting with what the potentials of a blog post can be. This blog post (in general) and the content below is shared from my first example and our first class assignment this semester. 

What is making you happy on the Internet?

So here we are, officially jumping into CT101 this second week. We have a ton of great stuff to cover, learn, share, create, apply, rinse and repeat this semester! Assignment #1 asks you to share; What is making you happy on the Internet?  You can find the link to that assignment here – <– Thats right, we can do cool things like hyperlink text and verbiage.. We can make an image or an animated GIF like the one above -also a “clickable thing” that redirects to another page or place on the Internet. That IDEA in and or itself makes me very happy! So in essence, the creative and practical functionality of the Internet as a whole makes me really happy. Lets dig a bit deeper..

The GIF above is taken from my profile on GIPHY. (go ahead and click on the image of the hyperlinked word to find my “stock” of animated GIFS. You can use them and embed them almost anywhere on the web. Thats the beauty of GIPHY.com – its a search engine for animated GIFs and animated Stickers, like I said, its Internet culture and Internet culture makes me happy!

I love to make animated GIFS! And guess what, you are going to learn how to make them in our class! I love GIFs and I feel that they are a huge part of Internet culture. Come on now, we all love animated GIFS! I made all of the GIFs in this blog post. These are just a few of the many of thousands that I have made (did I say thousands? Yikes, its true, I cant stop!) I blame Professor Michael B. Smith for this as he got me into GIFs and making them! Be sure to check out his blog here.

September is Deaf Awareness Month, that makes me happy!  It gives me an opportunity to use the Internet as a platform to share information about Deaf culture and to help people get a better insight and understanding of what it is like to be deaf and hard of hearing. Im deaf and hard of hearing, could you tell from our first meeting? Ill bet you couldn’t! Ill share some stories with you this week in class. (Im full of surprises!)

OK, so those are a few things that are making me happy on the Internet as well as a few ways that I use the Internet.

PS – Did you notice the formatting for this blog post? Notice how my images are the same size and how everything has been aligned to the left? This is intentional and it helps the viewer/reader easily absorb the content. You too will learn how to apply a similar format, though it may see a bit tricky to manage at first, you will easily get the hang of it!