I also learned many technical things that I wouldn’t have known before this project, such as, how to work with html, how to make and edit my own video, how to create a slideshow, and how to make a google map. During this project we all had the chance learn how the journalism world is changing and just how much of an impact multimedia has now-a-days. I enjoyed looking at other award winning projects and I think that helped motivate me with mine. All the guest speakers we had over the course of the semester also helped reiterate the fact that the online world is becoming very big within the journalism realm and they had very valuable advice.

 Overall this project really helped me open up to a topic I may not have known much about and it allowed me to learn and teach others about it. The blog posts were not always so fun to do but they were extremely helpful with the modules. If I hadn’t had them every week I would not have been pushed to get my interviews done and do all the research. It was a nice organized way of keeping thoughts together. For some final thoughts, I believe this is a great project to keep, although I would think of different ways get people brainstorming topics that will work. From what we saw by the end of people’s projects I realized that if you get it right then it is all comes together and becomes a very valuable piece of work.

Blog Posts Comment List

9/28/09

Ashley Rabe

http://arabe1.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/man-completes-mission-odd-jobs-in-every-state/#comments

Courtney Hammond

Sept. 18 http://courthammond.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/3-ideas-for-semester-project/#comments

Sept. 28 http://courthammond.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/a-tv-reality-star-gives-his-pets-the-boot/#comments

10/5/09

Meagan Eisner

http://meaganeisner.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/job-market-continues-to-worsen/#comments

Danielle Koch

http://daniellekoch.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/research-post-3-5-alternative-ways-of-using-the-net-to-meet-people/#comments

10/12/09

Tyler Macleod

http://tymacleod.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/duffy-leidner-marketing-with-social-media/#comments

William Pearce

http://williampearce.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/the-scourge-that-is-napster/#comments

10/19/09

Rhiannon Pichon

http://rhiannon86.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/cutesy-blog-black-coffee-and-a-donut-brings-the-lols-and-sweet-ideas-for-halloween/#comments

Christopher Reilly

http://chrisreilly425.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/dont-bring-the-politics-into-it/#comments

10/26/09

Matt Sorger

http://matthewsorger.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/collector-has-prized-possession-stolen/#comments

Kenneth Stukes

http://kennethstukes.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/teen-reach-keeps-lights-on/#comments

11/2/09

David Topp

http://davidtopp.wordpress.com/talking-soccer-with-jeff-carlisle-of-espn/

Melany Troy

http://melanytroy.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/the-greener-side-of-interning/#comments

11/9/09

Steve Boyle

http://steveboyle36.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/lottery-sales-up-in-michigan-despite-economy/#comments

Meagan Eisner

http://meaganeisner.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/working-hard-to-achieve-the-dream/#comments

11/16/09

Lily Lee

http://lilymlee.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/green-eats/#comment-32

Tyler Macleod

http://tymacleod.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/comfort-foods-find-success-during-recession/#comment-38

Overall, whether it’s acceptable or not many believe tattoos with religious symbolisms are very meaningful and telling. Before getting one though many have to understand what that means. It is not something to be taken as lightly as just getting a flower or star tattoo. Religious symbols categorize a person to that religion and in some cases they can be offensive to others. Religious tattoos should be very thought out. These tattoos can stir up controversy because all over the world religion is a subject that not everyone agrees on and making a permanent statement on one’s body can subject people to criticism. Getting a religious tattoo is not a light decision and the people that get them are making a statement to stand by their beliefs.

When did you get your first tattoo? : I was 18 years old when I got my first tattoo. By that time I was an adult and didn’t need permission from my parents.

What is your tattoo of and why did you get it? It is a Chinese symbol meaning perseverance. Perseverance is a word that keeps me going and describes the type of person I am. I always want to succeed, in soccer, in school, and most importantly my future, so the word is symbol of what I strive for.

Do you think tattoo is similar to art in the way of expressing oneself, how come? Yes because tattoo design takes a lot of skillful artwork and hopefully people are putting something on their body that they want to have or show off for the rest of their lives.

Do you believe tattoos are a form of storytelling and why? Yes, I think all tattoos tell a story about a person. Either about whom they are or an experience they’ve had. It is a form of expression that can be easily seen as artwork.

I took a look at Waterlife. A multimedia experience that takes a look into the Great Lakes and how it was once the largest source of fresh water in the world and it is now deteriorating with the amount of wildlife that are dying or disappearing and the amount of contamination that is leading to the rise in cancer and birth defects.

The introduction to the whole experience states that information about the lakes and it has soft music playing in the background which helps add mood to the project. It also has the effect of being underwater to help pull in the audience. Once you click in to the project a bunch of small pictures of form to make the shape of a duck. If you click on any picture a quote or fact comes up and it goes in to either a still frame or a video with more information on the picture you clicked on. There is also a navigation bar at the bottom that allows you can click on any new topic. The whole site is full of information; it is interesting to watch and involves a ton of multimedia. It allows the audience to be interactive and it’s a cool experience. It makes you feel like you are there and seeing the Great Lakes through the eyes of the people studying it.

The mood of the project shows just how important the Great Lakes are to the world and how without the Great Lakes fresh water supply things will go down hill. The people that created this whole project did it to push people to fix the problem and save the Great Lakes.

For this last text module I have been doing specific research towards showing how tattoos have moved away from just being trendy and back to having meaning like they did when they first came about. I talked about how some people don’t like the meaning their tattoo signifies anymore and want to cover them up, some people family members don’t approve, and how some jobs won’t hire people because of the stigma tattoos still carry. Still the main point to get across is, although tattoos are more widely known they are not accepted in by all cultures, races, or just people in general but that still doesn’t stop a person from getting something that means a lot to them.

Tattoo art is meaningful to mostly everyone now that does it and it should be because having a tattoo can mean sacrificing a lot. It means sacrificing a part of your body, in some cases your religion, and in rare cases your career. On a religious note, some religions disprove of tattoo art, such as, the Jewish religion. In other cases some people symbolically get tattoos to represent their religion. Just like many wear crosses having a religious symbol on your body is a permanent symbol of one’s closeness to God and their religion.

1. How many tattoos do you have? I have one, but technically two, because I got my first one covered up.

 2. Why did you start getting tattoos? I started really liking them this summer when I worked with a lot of people with many tattoos. Also, I think it is a cool art form of expressing yourself.

3. What is your most recent tattoo, if you have more than one? My tattoo is a zinnia flower which means thinking of an absent friend. That means a lot to me personally because my best friend isn’t here right now.

 4. What type of meanings do your tattoo/tattoos hold to you? My first tattoo was half of a heart (my best friend has the other half) but it was just poorly done, so I wanted my tattoo to still have meaning of our friendship which is why I got the new one.

 5. Do you think tattoos are more than just a trend now, at least to you? I definitely think tattoos are more than a trend to me, I would never get a tattoo without a special meaning. It is a big step to take to get one so just to do it to say you have one is pointless.

6. Do you think most people that get tattoos have good reasoning or it is just for looks? Yes, definitely. More people have good reasoning behind their tattoos whether they look like they don’t or not. The more I talked to people about tattoos, the more I realize even the stupid looking tattoos mean something to them, which makes important and unique to that one person.

The 10,000 Words website had many interactive websites to look at. There was a map for the Away We Go movie soundtrack where you could click anywhere on the map and leave memories of what the song means to you or that specific place on the map. It also plays the song so you can listen while reading the memories.

 I also of course had to look at the flu tracker interactive map seeing as how it is flu season. It gives the number of cases in each state of swine flu that are suspected, confirmed, and fatal. It is very informative and it is color coded.

The last map I looked at was a trends map of trends from twitter. It showed what is most popular in each state as a trend and what people on twitter are mostly talking about. It helps everyone keep up on the times.

There were a lot of maps I wanted to look at. They were all fun and had very interesting topics. It was easy to get the information by just clicking. Interactive maps are very useful because they give information out quick and easy and most have cool themes, making them much more interesting then just a regular map.

When people get tattoos it may be an impulse decision not one they have thought about for the long run. Many people, even in today’s society can have trouble getting jobs because of their appearance. Having tattoos and/or piercings in certain lines of business can be seen as unprofessional. Most people are excepting because otherwise it can be seen as discrimination in the workplace but an employer has every right to do what they personally think is best for their company. Recently, there was an MTV true life episode about people with tattoos that could not get jobs.

On the other hand, this is a changing world and luckily if you can’t find a job because you have tattoos you can always go in to the tattoo business, which has become a booming industry within itself. Professional tattoo artist can make money ranging from 40 thousand to 80 thousand a year which is incredible for being able to have such a fun and artistic profession. Tattoo kits are a great way to get people started in the business and from there if someone is artistic enough and creative enough to design tattoos they can become an artist. For every set back there is in the job world there is always solutions.

When you first got hired to work for the NSA what were the requirements? Would having a tattoo that is noticeable be acceptable or unacceptable? “Tattoos are acceptable. It is discrimination to not allow someone with a tattoo.”

If someone got one after working there for awhile would they be fired? Why or Why not?  “Tattoos are not necessarily related to job performance so it would not have a bearing.”

Can you give me a description of the business you just started? ” I partnered with 3 others and we have a professional services company that focuses on IT and business staffing for the NSA.”

Would you ever hire anyone with tattoos all over their body?  “Part of our core business is customer satisfaction, so if someone had so many tattoos that it was a distraction it may impact a decision, but for the most part it is not a factor.  We have a young female employee today that has a visible tattoo. I know other businesses that would not if someone had offensive or obscene tattoos; I have never had to deal with that though.”

On a personal level how do you view tattoos?” Personal choice that I don’t care for, nor do I care if people choose it for themselves.”

On a professional level how would you view them?  “Similarly to personal as long as they are a good performer and the customer is satisfied. I don’t find them to be professional looking though.”

Do you know people that have ever not been given a job because of having a tattoo?” No not personally, but I have known people that know people that haven’t gotten hired because of tattoos.”