Web Take-Home Final

Since I can't think about my upcoming vacation to Mexico without feeling like a slacker this week, this post serves not only as my final but as my itinerary!

I will be staying at the Iberostar Quetzal resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.




View Playa Del Carmen in a larger map

Next week is going to be hectic as hell (we're leaving on Saturday, the 8th), so I have to do the following to prepare, in this order:

1. Get a haircut


2. Clean my room


3. PACK!


4. Online check-in for the flight

When I finally get there, I plan on doing all of the following (in no particular order):

• Get a tan (I'm sick of embracing the pale)


• Read an actual novel (not one that was assigned for homework)


• Take some great photos with my awesome camera


• Relax.

Random Chart!

Charts and Maps

I loved making the maps on google maps! I think that's so cool that you can embed text, audio, pictures and video at each place mark. I'm definitely using this for my blog when I'm in Rome. The charts were a bit more difficult to understand just because the template on that google site was weird. I feel more comfortable changing the chart in the URL.

Chart

Famous Paris Landmarks

View Paris Landmarks in a larger map

Writing for the Web

I really liked learning about how to write for the web this week - I think it will be helpful for those of us who want to be journalists because everything is transitioning to the Web. As future reporters, we need to know how to write for the web because chances are we will be writing more for webpages than we will for print. I think web-based journalism cheapens the written word in some ways, however, because you have to write in a way that will benefit people who scan the text. The use of anecdotes and sentences with flowery adjectives really has no use in web journalism.

HTML = GAHH!!

I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with writing HTML and CSS, especially after today's class. I get so upset with myself when I go in to change the text to say "Kelly Holliday" or switch around some pictures, and it doesn't show up on when I load the webpage!! Needless to say that I am happy we are moving on from writing HTML and transitioning to writing for the Web and blogging basics. I'm definitely more interested in writing for the Internet than writing codes for the Internet.

What I Learned, 3/29 - 4/2

I've always been intimidated by HTML, and after working with it in class today, I still feel the same. I'm not that great with codes, so seeing those 2,000 lines of HTML made me a little nervous. I've worked with codes before when I had a MySpace account, specifically when I changed the layout, embedded video and pictures into the "about me" section, and used the code to make the words scroll across the page, so learning about the codes for bold and for italics wasn't too difficult to me. Seeing that there are 2,000 lines of codes for just the New York Times homepage gives me a new appreciation of how much work goes into making just one webpage. I'm constantly hearing about how long it takes to put together a print newspaper and how easy it is to post an article online, but in reality, it takes a lot of code writing to put a decent webpage together.

What I'd Like to Learn

Web design has always seemed scary to me, just because I don't have any knowledge of how to create a website or write codes. In this class, I'd love to learn how to make my own webpage and write codes for cool graphics. I'm studying abroad in Rome next year and I'd like to have my own blog/website that's dedicated to my stay and that features my photographs. I hope that in this class, I'll be able to incorporate interesting graphics or features that will make my Rome blog/website a cut above the rest.