Assessment 3 Blog Post

Assessment #3 Blog Post

Hello, Goodbye, The course is over and all the topics are done, goodbye MPI104, it's been interesting :) Over the course of MPI104 We learned the basics about social networks on the internet, a brief history, and quickly how to utilise these sites ourselves. This led to topics on designing on the web, and creating our own sites. The interaction with the internet getting deeper until we got to our second/last (this is a progress assignment) assignment wherein we acually left our own website footprint on the web, pretty cool.


MPI104 Blog 20 Posts; 3 pages; 1 Favicon; 13 gadgets; 2 RSS feeds; 1 counter 
Blogging, on My Blog was an interesting experience, which I'd never tried before. I think it was really useful to be introduced to blogging, and when you take some time and and effort it can really work out well and be worthwhile. SOme of the time though, It felt a bit rushed and forced because it's an assessment and not a natural interest in putting your thoughts out there like a normal blog. I experimented with templates, design layouts, gadgets and making the blog accessible and appealing. I tried to put a lot of effort and detail into my posts, with images, links, written information, and video clips. My favourite part was learning how to embed video, hide the text for a link, and create my own HTML counter when the gadgets were down, from the knowledge we'd got in the HTML topic.
Here are some of my favourite posts:
All things Japan - The Sydney Japanese Film Festivall
All Things Japanese - Yakisoba (fried noodle dish)
All Things Japan - J-pop
All Things Japan - The call of Korean Dramas

My delicious account 11 stacks; 78 links
In Delicious I learned about sorting links into topics, which got more interesting the more I did it. The best part for me, in this section, was learning about what other people find interesting, by looking at the Hit Counter. This led to a better understanding of designing on the web, which will be useful in the future, when I venture out on the web universe.
Stacks and link counter:
MPI104 links 7 links
Mangamania 6 links
Fruit alone 8 links
Popular dishes Eaten in Japan 7 links
Message Hats 4 links
Design Fingernail Art! 5 links
Discontinued modern Olympic Sports 7 links
Guinea pigs 5 links
Language learning for kids (free sites only) 6 links
VOCALOID DESU SHI! 12 links
Secret Garden (Korean): Soundtrack 10 links

My Flickr Account 64 items; 5 sets; 1 gallery; 10 Favourites
Learning about Flickr was an introduction into the photo-sharing community of the web, and gave me an insight into interesting and unusual imagery which I am happy to be amazed by every day. From Flickr I got more of an interest in the photography community, and the networks of image sharingf - how popular and useful they are for getting your work out there and appreciated/judged.

Learning about HTML and creating a webspace would have been way better if there'd been more time for it. I really like the idea of HTML and learning how to write up some script has been pretty useful. Because my webspace didn't upload properly I don't really feel a sense of having accomplished making my own site, and feel a bit of a nube still at it all, which I am but hey! It was brilliant learning about each new thing though, like getting a window peek into a whole new world "programmer world" :D RSS was challenging and linking up the CSS sheet, but it was fun. I wish I had something more interesting to create a web site about though, I hadn't really had many good ideas for reaching other people, it felt like being told to sit down and write a novel when you never really thought about being a writer before.

I liked MPI104. The class atmosphere was fun, although sometimes I couldn't keep up with the speed. :) Thanks for being an awesome lecturer :D'

MPI Flickr Updates

Hey! -Hey. Welcome back, if you're reading this to the live streaming you'll notice how close this post is to the previous one - that's because they're updates people; divided up specifically into Delicious and Flickr to help with the navigating around to what you want to read about specifically :P ok. Now that that's out of the way haha like someone's standing at my shoulder saying "Write it! Write it!", let's get down to business. Or rather, leisure more like. Flickr. Yaaaay...!! More photos are up chaps and chappesses; of my time in Japan. They still need a bit of fine-tuning and sorting when I get my hands on a decent computer (tagging and putting into sets and a few doubles in need of removal), but for now the photos in the raw are up. If you're feeling hungry, or what would be better suited to Flickr - if yourself like LOOKING at food, do go and check out the traditional style Jpanese meals I was served on my school trip to Nagasaki with my Yearmates of Senior Highschool 2nd year - equivalent to Australian Year 11, in French it May be "La Deuxième" (fairly sure I've got the gender and accent wrong there - and hopefully not the word itself) and any other nationalities I'm sorry I haven't a clue. Also uploaded are Akihabara (Electric City) and Tokyo City roaming photos (nothing too flash :), as well as Japanese style outdoor BBQ in the most beautiful domestically cultivated Traditional style garden setting I was ever graced by the invitation into. My charming, lovely host grandparents of my second and deadly sliced host family, welcomed me into their home and garden, about which I was informed in halting but eager English on the "things you need to make a Japanese garden". Wait one cotton-picking-second, I should have them here on me somewhere - be right back, just be a jiffy :) Ah, I'm having fun with these sayings - I slipped "holy mackerel" into a Facebook conversation earlier today hahaha good times:D Japanese garden - Nihongo no niwa Three principles: 1. Be with nature 2. Central Pine tree 3. Big rock like a mountain, with a "fall" hole in the top, reaching down into the stone. Also a pond at the base, and a river - or grass shaped like a river. With Bonzai, it is the most beautiful if it is shaped with a branch out to the side, the plant leaning to the side. The idea is a condensed world of nature, close to the heart. This is the principle of a Japanese garden. Sumi: charcoal Niwa: garden Fuji: type of plant Hashi: chopsticks Ari: ant Mukashi: long time ago Hasami: tongs Yuge: steam Kemuri: smoke Hachi: bee Kumanbachi: bear bee (this big black flying beetle looking thing) Satsumaimo: sweet potato from Satsuma Satsuma: place  Imo: potato Those last words were ones I learned during the course of the BBQ. You've got toget into it and ask questions, there's no other way of tying involved more than showing you're interested, however that comes across for you (standing on their toes and trying to peer deeply into their eyeballs probably isn't the best way to do it though.) Ending in Japanese, because it's a good time to do it ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ until next time ☆彡 もう終わりだね 君が小さく見える 僕は思わず君を抱き締めたくなる "私は泣かないからこのまま一人にして" 君の穂を涙が流れては落ちる 。。。 -「Sayonara」by Off Course If anyone else ever wrote a song like this, and sung it like they did, I'd fall in love with them in an instant

Assessment #1 blog post

Assessment #1 blog post; the summary...

=Blogger=
+ Posts: 8 This includes MPI104 related and theme related. My running theme was 'All Things Japan', which were the most interesting of my posts, about Japanese art and photography; Language skills and TV dramas; Celebrating your birthday overseas. I tried my best to be consistently interesting though... so feel free to read some of the others ^^)
+ Work done on aesthetics: In Template I customised my blog Template (from 'Travel'); where I also adjusted the widths, layout, and text fonts and colours. I tried for a colour scheme that matched up/complemented each part (i.e. text, background).
+ Comments on other blogs (and the links to the comments) can be found on this post - "Miscellaneous post commenting".
+ The tags I used: assessment blog, Birthdays, blogging, blog viewing, celebrating, comments, crucial post, delicious, first post, Flickr, Gifu FC, Gokusen, Hope Maguire, interesting topics, Japan, Japanese art, Japanese drama, language techniques., Matt Barron Lecturer, mpi104_2012, MPI104, New Gallery, Physical Japan, soccer fans, stacks.
+ Other work I've done on blogger:  I added gadgets to my sidebars (Fish, MP3 player, Diggs) and below posts bar. I re-arranged how the parts of the blog were set up in "Layout". I designed a favicon for my URL - so that ever time you have my blog URL up, it won't have the orange "B" for the blogger site, but my own symbol linking it visually to my site. I added two more pages to my MPI104 blog, that are URL links to the relating MPI104 Flickr and MPI104 Del.icio.us sites. I called the pages "Flickr PLace" and "MPI Del.ic.ious". In settings I checked on all the options and made sure it was formatted how I would like it - blog description, Header, sub header, language, time zone, commenting. I added personal information on the profile page, about my interests etc.
+ That's about it for blogger. Here is the link: Hope Maguire's Blog

=Del.icio.us=
+ The number of bookmarked web pages (Links) is 14.
+ Why these are of interest to me?- they're my hobbies/interests. Why I found them interesting is why I chose them as stacks: MPI104 - with 6 links (My own MPI104 sites - Flickr; Blog; Masterblog; and three other blogs I found interesting) is all course related, and I find this course interesting, I didn't know so much about these websites before, it's pretty cool :)
Mangamania links - with 3 links to manga websites - because I love Japanese manga, Korean Manhwa, and Chinese (not sure what they call it there) manga. And I thought, you know, if anyone else wanted to find out about it - here's the links to some informative, interesting places.
Fruit alone links - with 5 links to websites about just one specific fruit. Because one day I just suddenly pictured fruit as always being in a fruitbowl and I wanted to separate them up into "just an apple" etc, random yes, I think I was red-lining on the lack of sleep front - but fruit is good, its all bright colours and yummy tastes. Come on - who doesn't love fruit?
+ Links to my favourite three web pages:
on pears
a webcomic
a manga website for readings scanlations
+ Here is the link to my delicious profile

=Flickr=
+ Number of uploaded images: 32
+ My three favourite images mosaic plates, cup of tea, Nagasaki city sprawl (own); and by others: geisha; cuban cyclist; rabbit face (from my favourites section)
+ Here is the link to my Flickr stream

=thoughts=
So far it's been pretty interesting; learning about these online social/information sharing websites and ho wmany people use them and how/why they post their opinions and information on the web. Besides learning how to operate these sites, my faourite part of MPI104 has been learning a little bit of coding, and all the random, current geeky information that comes up in class. Definately a workshop a look forward to, in a Uni week. Cheers for the 'funness'.

MPI104 Flickr - new gallery

Hey guys!

Happy holidays/non-contact period! And remember: no touching for two weeks)
Just put up a gallery on Flickr which makes me giggle - and I made it - so I may be biased - check it out for yourself, you may be surprised by your face breaking out a grin. Or a rash.
I wont be held accountable for unexpected side-effects.

Have a wonderful break - and remember - if it's not broken... it might be about to be. -.o

interestingness gallery

All Things Japan - A birthday overseas

Have you ever had a Birthday party that blew your mind? 

Way to make your Birthday memorable idea #27 Go to a foreign country and celebrate it with a host family. 

My 19th Birthday Cake

Try to keep up with all the native festive traditions and remember to give your mum a call during the day.

It’s a blast – here’s the proof on Flickr Happy Birthday in Japan My 19^th Birthday was celebrated with some of the warmest, kindest people I’ve met – my 2^nd host family, living in an apartment, beside in Nagara River.


They gave me a cake that combined cream, sponge, crepes, fruit and chocolate decorations. To me – it does not get much better.

Xxxx

All Things Japan - Scenery, Art and Photography

Live in the place you want to learn about.
Seems about right.

Being interested in the raw of nature I took a camera with me when I went travelling. Part of the appeal of travelling to a foreign land is the differences you hope to find or be surprised by. I was hoping for both when it came to the physical countryside of modern-day Japan.

Ancient Japanese art on nature is classic. It's elegant, minimalistic and wonderfully rich in the romantic aura of the wistful, the epic. I wonder whether this has swayed other minds on Japanese natural landscape - as it's portrayed so elegantly in Japanese calligraphy style ink tracings - languid mountains and barely-there details hidden by an evoked mist and fog.


Landscape: mountains, stream and houses provided by Google images.
From the website for the Smithsonian museum of Asian Art

Or the emptiness they fill with imagination. Giving less, so the viewer supplies more.

Hiroshige Snow falling on a town provided by Google images
From the Art history website

I went looking for what had inspired such art, armed with a camera and a hopeful expression.

Here is what I found..

Imperial Bridge - Kyushu

Golden Temple - Kyoto

Finding the natural beauty of Japan is not a lost cause, despite the statistics of housing demand and growing population costs seeming to threaten to swallow the natural landscape whole each year..

The city sprawl - Nagasaki

The view from my hotel window in Nagasaki.

Thankfully there are still places of wonder and colour, and often religious mystique ('Shinto' is the ancient traditional Japanese nature-worshipping religion. Most of the ancient wooden temples built on the mountain sides are from this peaceful, spiritual religion) to be found not only in the preserved wilds of the Japanese isles..

A small shrine - Kyushu

..but even in city centers:

Temple near my school - Gifu City, Honshu

I passed this Temple (and several others) just catching the bus to school every day, Gifu City.

For more images of the beautiful scenes of the modern day physical landscape of Japan - you are welcome to visit my flickr account.

For your own images, all I can say is best of luck 


– and a final tip – visit that same place at different times of the day, and in different weather. The mood, lighting and timing might just serve you a surprise, and make something extraordinary out of, forgive the cliché, ordinary ;)

Week 4 Flickr

Watching a City team soccer game in Gifu City, Japan
(With Miori, my little Japanese sister)

Flickr looks pretty interesting. You could just waste hours watching random pretty pictures.
This is my Flickr URL.