Evaluation

Overall I feel that this module has really opened my eyes to the world around me and just how much we take convergent media for granted. So many things I do, like online gaming using my xbox360 and my Pc would not be possible without it. Checking prices using the “red lazer” app for the  has saved me money, and time however this would also not be possible without the merging of media and without the internet.

The process of making the google maps was at time very frustrating, yet I felt a large sense of achievement and satisfaction once it finally uploaded onto my blog. Google maps is a very helpful and useful application and making my own helped me appreciate this.

Google maps

Now I have my map and pictures its time to place the pictures onto my map. This proved to be another area that didn’t want to co-operate with me. I followed the instructions found on google map help, and the image loaded up as a red cross. After searching around it turned out, as always, that it was much simpler to fix than I thought. The problem was I was not clicking on the link button and so rather than copying over the URL for the image as I thought I was, instead I was copying over the URL for the webpage. After noticing this simple mistake I was able to link the pictures no problem at all! =D

My map

View Larger Map

Google maps

Now Its time to upload all the photos I need to place onto my map. I downloaded Picasa, Googles version of flickr, as I thought this would be easier to import over. Next step was to upload all my photos. I chose to use these ones

Google Maps

I have decided that for my google map I am going to show my walk from Study Inn to Ellen Terry. One reason for this is that on my walk I pass many interesting buildings and landmarks that I can show others and would make very good pictures. The first thing I did was set up a Google map account. This was the simple part of the project. Next step was to find Coventry and more specifically Study Inn. After finding Trinity street and study Inn I was able to place the location marker and begin my virtual walk. I placed a location marker at each of the key locations I pass and drew a line tracing my walk.

Here is a screen shot of my map before without photos.

Visualising statistics about my life: how much I spent on average per week before I came to university and where I spent it!

Here is my slide show that I have made using Flickr. Flickr is a place where people can upload their photos, organise them and make slideshows to show people. It’s a good idea if you want to keep you’re photos safe as they are all hosted online so there is only a very small chance they can be lost forever. It also allows you to access them from anywhere in the world that has internet connection, making it really useful when you’re on holiday and only have a small amount of memory on your camera!

I did try to embed this slideshow onto WordPress however after countless attempts and having read tons of guides I was still unable to get my head around it and as such I have instead chosen to link it.

Visualising statistics about my life: how much I spent on average per week before I came to university and where I spent it!

I decided to base my statistics on how much money I used to spend before I came to university. I thought I would do this as it would show me the reasons why I never had much money left after payday, and help me to realise that budgeting is much better for my wallet. I took the pictures using a Fujifilm S5700 that I got out from the media loan shop. I went for a basic camera as at the time of taking the photos I felt unconfident using a more complex camera.

The next step was uploading the photos to my computer and editing them to show the statistics and information needed. My computer did not have the full version of Photoshop, however, it did have Photoshop elements 7.0, a very basic version that only has the most commonly used parts. This worked well for me as it was the first time I have used Photoshop on my own, and I found myself getting a little confused in some of the earlier workshops. After uploading the photos I opened them using Photoshop elements and began adding on the information I needed. I found this part of the task fairly simple, however, editing the photos to the standard I desired was very time consuming.

Photoshop workshop

 here is my image I made in photoshop. sadly wordle wasnt working so I had to use tagcrowd.

Understanding Hybrid Media by Lev Manovich

The article by Lev Manovich is a very in-depth article about hybrid media, that, at times may seem rather complex. Manovich attempts to explain where hybrid media came from, what it is and where it is going. According to Manovich hybrid media has been growing since the early 1990′s and is generally about how media is overlapping and merging to form a new type of media known as hybrid media. Hybrid media, Manovich suggests, was brought to the forefront by the widespread availability of computers and design software during the late 1990′s. This meant that more people where combining different techniques and styles together, for example merging live action footage with CGI and 2d images to create new objects. Manovich also explores how important the internet has been in the growth of hybrid media.

Manovich often states that the hybrid media is an invisible revolution as few people knew it has happened and few people have studied it or written much about it, it would seem most people have fail to notice its existence and just accept it as being the norm.

Manovich explains that convergence and hybrid media are new in comparison to most theories and areas of the media and that they have an important role to play in its future and shaping.