Take me to a warmer place

It's Been Awhile...Again

Oh, my dear blog...how I have neglected thee. It is time for an additional post after 1/2 a year's absence. I must admit that I was inspired by a friend of mine known as The Masked Doctoral Student. Check out his meandering ways if you get a chance. This entry is probably going to be depressing, so if you don't want to feel as crappy as I do, STOP READING NOW! The truth is, I do feel crappy. Physically, I am ill. Sore throat, nose, headache, tired, just want this semester to be over kind of BS. Mentally it is pretty much the same. Too much academic red tape to deal with. Thankfully, it is all winding down. Turn in my teaching portfolio tonight, show up for a brief class tomorrow (hasta la vista 600!), and then all I have to do is finish the research proposal for 640 (which I have conveniently procrastinated on for weeks). On top of it all, it is just too damn cold in NW Ohio. Precious commented last night that those of us who live here must be used to it. Not even close. You never get used to it although it might be easier to deal with than those, like Precious, from California.

On the positive side, Christmas is almost here, so if you are from California, or any other warm state, enjoy Christmas as it was meant to be enjoyed. After all, Santa doesn't wear a thick, red suit for no reason. Another positive - in just over three weeks, I will be enjoying the warm sunshine from a cruise ship in the Bahamas. We are sailing on January 2nd, and for all my dear friends out there, I will not be thinking of you! When I am in the Caribbean, my thoughts will basically be:

The weather is here. Wish you were nice.

Hey, I am starting to feel better all ready. Nothing like pounding out your worries on a keyboard. :) Perhaps I will now be inspired to be a better blogger. Till next time...

Well, summer is officially here in Northwest Ohio. It has been in the high 80's and low 90's all week and it looks to be that way for a while. You know what? I love it! Been working on getting our pool open so that we can enjoy the outdoors more. Unfortunately the pool pump died and we had to wait on a new one to arrive. On the positive side, I have spent a few mornings eating breakfast outside, reading the paper, enjoying the sunshine. You gotta love the academia! Even though it has slowed down quite a bit, there is still so much to do. There are chores to complete around the house that have needed to be completed for quite a long time. The school year is just so busy. But I love losing myself in the mundane, everyday minutiae and it feels good to work with my hands and body instead of my brain - not that there's anything wrong with that! It keeps me grounded. I've been able to spend more time with the family as well. Makes me realize how much I miss my wife and kids during the other nine months. Good start to the summer.

On the negative side, our dog is no where to be found. She is a 13-year-old collie-shepherd mix who is hard of hearing. Great dog. We've had since she was six-weeks old. The pisser is that it is probably my fault. Susan woke up this morning and found the back door open. I must have let her out while getting a midnight snack and forgot to let her in. One of our side gates was open just enough for her to get through. We spent the entire morning looking for her. No luck. Called the Humane Society, Animal Control, Police, Street dept. Veterinarians... Still no luck. My kids are upset and if we don't find her, my wife will be crushed. Sydney has really been her dog and has made Susan a faithful companion. Not sure how this will go down, but it will certainly be a tough couple of days unless she shows up. Say a few prayers.

It's been a while

Well, it's been a month since I last posted anything to this blog. Things just kind of got overwhelmingly busy, trying to finish up all of my school work and finishing my own grading for the composition class. It all worked out though, and I took last week off. It was nice. Worked a little around the house and rested a bit.

Anyway, I am beginning my internship now and have decided to complete a practicum instead of a thesis. There was simply not enough time to complete a thesis and "I already got one!" For my internship, I am working with Dr. Sue Carter for her distance ed course. I am hoping to complete a website for her, but haven't heard back from her yet. I will be maintaining a separate blog to document my daily accomplishments for the internship. Check it out if you like at http://bgsu-i-log.blogspot.com/. TTFN.

Bibliographic Style

Bibliographic Style - What is it? Quite honestly, I don't know! Up until now, I really haven't completed a bibliography - ever. I have done reference pages in APA. I have completed works cited pages on MLA. But I haven't created an official "bibliography." I know there are differences such as that a works cited page contains only those works cited within the text. A bibliography can be more inclusive, but what is meant by the style? I am assuming that Dr. Mara is referring to the style manuals such as APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. Assuming those are the choices, I guess that I will be using MLA.

It is also probably important to substantiate why I have chosen MLA so here goes. My primary reasons for using MLA are:

• It is a good fit for examining blogs since I will be examining the content of the writing in attempting to determine genre
• I am looking at language and hello, MLA stands for Modern Language Association
• It has been six years since I used APA
• I am most familiar with it through teaching it in English 111 and 112
• I am most familiar with it, and
• I am most familiar with it

At any rate, those are my top six (four?) reasons for choosing MLA. We are supposed to have 250+ words for this entry, but I just don't know what else to say. I am out of words, which is actually strange for me. I usually have no trouble filling up my blog. Oh well - Have a great weekend!

Cumulative Knowledge

What have I learned this semester? Lots of good things. One of the most important is about blogging. While it was not a requirement to use a blog for this course, I chose to complete my journal via this blog. The experience has been extremely positive. In fact, I am doing my thesis work, as well as my research project for this class, on blogging. I am even considering continuing with blogging when I work on my Ph.D., but from the standpoint of using blogging in distance education. What I like about blogging is the dynamic environment within which it operates. The chance for responses from others makes it even more interesting. As a result, I have started my own blog separate from the ones I am maintaining for my classes. PLEASE stop by at Bring Out Your Blog and take a look. There isn't much yet, but it will slowly and steadily increase.

Also, I have appreciated learning about the different research methods. Even though I have had a masters level research class before, that class focused on what would be considered "traditional" research. I haven't been exposed to ethnographic, historical, and feminist as much as I have other types, so that was helpful. I think it also has helped lessen my "fear" of research to a certain extent although I am not completely comfortable yet.

In addition, I have appreciated the exposure to research proposals, which is what are individual projects are about. I am still learning about proposals, but what we have been doing is certainly helpful. Having worked for a proprietary school, we did not do normal academic research. The research we conducted was primarily geared toward solving an immediate problem. For example, if I had a network problem that I wasn't familiar with, I would conduct research in order to fix the problem. Nothing like what we have been, and I will be, doing.Furthermore, I have learned that I need to be more proactive. It isn't that I haven't been proactive in the past, but my self-confidence has not been at the same level as it used to be. You might say that I'm out of my comfort zone. I am starting to feel like I belong here and that is making the process easier, but I still have a long way to go.Lastly, I have learned that I still am not completely sure what telos and mechanism are about, and John Monberg was way above my head in chapter 11 of our text. A lot of the difficulty I am having is with the level of discourse so I guess what I still need to learn is how to converse in this community. I am hoping that my continuing education next year in Comm Studies is going to help make me more comfortable. However, I do have a problem with the academia writing in such an inaccessible way. See my blog for a longer commentary on that subject. Well, that's it. I believe that this is my last entry. It's been a ride, much like a roller coaster, only this coaster isn't stopping just yet!

Technical Communication Confusion

I just got finished reading chapter 11 from our Research in Technical Communication textbook in preparation for tomorrow's class. The chapter is written by John Monberg, who is a comm studies professor at the University of Kansas. I have to be honest; I have no idea what he is talking about. The problem is that it is written in academic, ivory tower, incomprehensible gibberish. It scares me a little, because I am supposedly going to enter this discourse community (comm studies) in a few years, and in general, I cannot follow the discourse! What bothers me most is that I see too much of this in technical communication literature. This isn't always the case. Other authors in this text are quite easy to read and comprehend. In particular, Susan Katz, Teresa Kynell, Bruce Seely, Daniel Murphy, Laura Gurak, and Christine Silker among others seem easy to follow, and I do think the comprehensible outweighs the incomprehensible in this text. However, I have not read a lot of each of these authors, so all of their writing may not be so straightforward, but the limited exposure I have had has impressed me.

In my first tech comm class with Dr. Edminster, she often spoke of "tearing down the walls of text." I love that line because it speaks to my feelings about how the academia often distances itself from the "commoners" through language. If technical communication is truly about clarity, focus, simplicity, comprehensibility, etc., then why is there this insistence on writing in such a seemingly unclear, unfocused, complex, and incomprehensible manner? I realize that part of the reasoning involves making technical communication acceptable to the rest of the academia, and I also realize that the discourse isn't incomprehensible to everyone. But are we, as educators and researchers, being true to our chosen field if we continue to write in such a cryptic manner? Why not be the front runners and lead the rest of the academia in simplifying the language to make it more accessible? I would love to hear responses to this from both sides.

Addendum:
I was rereading this post and wanted to make clear that it wasn't Monberg's entire chapter that was confusing. It was really about the first 2/3 that I struggled with. The latter part of the chapter that deals with the case studies was understandable. There was a clear point of transition in his writing style. As he moved from theory to reporting the results of the case studies, his writing changed. This is a good thing! I can't help but wonder though, how much more would I have gotten out of this chapter if the theory portion had been written in a more accessible style.

Movin Forward

The last question (I think it is the last!) asks us how we are going to take this class experience forward. I have actually been thinking about this for a while. This semester has taken me on a quite a journey and it has ended up helping me make some decisions. I am enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Communication Studies next fall and a couple of areas have interested me. One is blogging. At first I thought that I would be looking at blogging as participatory media, but somehow that just didn't excite me too much. I also like what I have been studying in the Visual Rhetoric class. Specifically I have been looking at images in marketing for MMORPG computer games. Finally, I have the opportunity to complete my internship through BG working with Dr. Sue Carter with her two distance education courses.The distance education internship is what cinched it for me. I already have a good background in computers, but I need more experience in web design. We have touched on some basics with the software in this class, so I purchased the Studio MX suite and began teaching myself. In addition, I enrolled in three course this summer that cover Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Publisher. I hope to combine these skills and use them with the internship. My long-term goal is to study communication processes in distance education courses. I would love the opportunity to work in blogging as part of that process. I have not figured out how to work in the visual part and it may not be part of the equation in the long-run.

An additional interest of mine is gender studies. In fact, my Visual Rhetoric research has looked at gender (female) images on the game covers as part of the marketing plan for the computer game companies. To cross over into the distance education world, I might look at the differences in blogging between the genders in a distance education setting. So there it is. Research Course + Online Docs + Visual Rhetoric + Internship = Gender Differences in Blogging in Distance Education. That is the path I see myself going on over the next three years. Not bad for a semester or two's worth of work. Of course this is all subject to change and probably will within the next week, but I think that is what a good researcher does. You must constantly examine where you are and reevaluate your position. So that's it. Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow.

PostSecret Ponderings

The second part of our assignment is to post an entry on the experience of commenting on the blog of our choice (see PostSecret below). I'll have to admit that the experience was enlightening. I haven't really spent much time looking at blogs revealing personal information. It is part of my research; I just haven't delved into the analysis part yet. In addition, I recently had a man at our church come up and ask my wife if she knew anything about blogs. She immediately turned to me and said that I was the person to talk to as my research is in this area. He asked what blogs were and as I tried to explain, I found that there really isn't any easy explanation or definition. Blogs can be so many things: professional, personal, news, humor, confession, information, visual, textual, auditory, etc.... That's part of the reason I am interested in genre analysis, but I am starting to wonder of categorizing blogs by genre is even feasible. Don't get me wrong, I still want to analyze blogs from genre lens, I just think that many of my assumptions may be called into question as I get deeper into this. The primary assumption that I am concerned about is that blogs can be classified by genre to begin with. Another is that there is a need for classification to begin with. However, I believe that this is what part of the research process is about. You go into the project with certain assumptions, and through the research, you either confirm or refute those assumptions. The point is that something is learned through the process, not only by you, but also your audience. I think that the process of blogging has been the most interesting aspect of this class and I hope to continue on my own in an effort to keep this process going.

PostSecret

This assignment asks us to write an extended critique on a non-classmate, non-friend's blog. So I went out searching for a blog that possibly tied in with some of my research interests including blogging and visual rhetoric. As I linked from site to site, I ended up at Samantha Blackmon's blog. As I searched through her postings I ran across a link that piqued my interest. The heading for the entry was simply "This is phenomenal and disturbing!" Below the heading was a link: PostSecret. Okay, she had my attention and what else could I do but click the link? What I discovered was both phenomenal and disturbing, and also very engrossing.

Part of the way down the page is this excerpt:

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project. People from around the world share their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. If you would like to mail in your secret(s) too, scroll down to the bottom of this page for directions.-Frank

At he bottom of the page you find:

You are invited to anonymously contribute your secrets to PostSecret. Each secret can be a regret, hope, ,experience, unseen kindness, belief, fear, betrayal, desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation. Reveal anything - as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before.

Essentially, individuals create these postcards, which include some sort of secret, mail them to "Frank," and he creates the post. I would encourage you to look over the blog. It is at once funny, heartbreaking, human, and cathartic. I do question how many of these "secrets" are really true. For all we know, many are simply made up by individuals trying to see if there postcard makes it onto the site. On the other hand, if even only a fraction are true, and the confessions help these people make it through another day, week, month, year...well, that's a pretty good thing isn't it? So far, I have been approaching blogging academically, and this helped me see another side of the equation. The side that involves personal expression and creativity.

Some of these posts are funny and questionably ethical at the same time. For instance, one post from 4/17, shows a traffic ticket. The text on the postcard explains that the person found a ticket on his/her windshield. The car in the next space also had a ticket, so this person switched the tickets. That ticket was paid, but the other one wasn't as it was used to send in for the post. I'll have to admit that I laughed in spite of myself and at the same time wondered where the responsibility and accountability had gone. Other posts were more disturbing as the one about the person who only sleeps well when he/she dreams of being shot. There are many others and I will leave them for the curious to browse on their own.

This site is an amazing commentary on our culture. The web has often been held up as a place for all to freely share their sins. With anonymity, the outpouring is continual and neverending. This blog also says a lot about our society and how we accept, or reject, others based on superficial information. Where else do these people go for confession? Recent events in the Catholic church have made many uneasy about the clergy and psychotherapists charge an arm and a leg for counseling. To top it off, many insurance plans only minimally cover the counseling visits. So here we sit, with our monthly connection charge, pleading our case to the world, never worrying about judgment from those who would critique us. Cyberconfession, if you will....

Welcome

This blog is my new home and contains links to my other blogs maintained for my Resources and Research in Technical Communication and Online Documentation courses at BGSU. My hope is to actually begin blogging on a regular basis once this term is complete and I have more time. The title, "Bring Out Your Blog" is a reference to a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "Bring Out Your Dead." Hopefully this blog does not die before it truly gets started. Oh and by the way, British humor rules! Stay tuned for further musings...

Methods to Madness

Today's entry - What research method am I proposing? I have to admit that I am puzzling over this a little. We have covered so many types of research over the past few weeks that it is difficult to figure out just where my project fits in. This blog entry will probably be less about the method I am proposing as much as it is a process I must go through to determine what the method will be. At its most basic level, the research I am proposing involves looking at several blogs and performing a genre analysis.

So let's start by trying to eliminate some of the obvious suspects. My first inclination is that this is definitely not ethnographic research. I am not immersing myself in any culture or organization to learn about how technical communication works inside that culture/organization. On the other hand, when I look to some of the uses of ethnographic research, I find that it includes identifying patterns of behavior "...that are important within a particular group" (Katz). Since I am performing a genre analysis, am I not looking for writing patterns within a particular group? There is no physical space to inhabit, so it would be different from an organization, and yet it is still a group or culture - cyberculture if you will. Therefore, ethnography is a possibility, but I am not sure if it is the primary suspect.

Second on the list is historical methods. This appears to be one of the front runners, since historical methods include using a variety of sources to gather information about something that has happened in the past. Haven't all of the blogs that I will be examining been written in the past? My job will be to examine those blogs and try to make sense of them through analysis. I kind of like this one. Surveys and questionnaires are third an the list and this is an obvious no. I will not be doing any type of surveys, questionnaires, interviews, etc. So let's scratch that one off of the list! In addition, I would have to say that this will most likely be a quasi-experimental design. It will be truly difficult to secure a completely random sample of blogs. Moreover, I will not be approaching the research from a feminist, cultural, or scientific perspective.

In the end, what I end up with is a quasi-experimental, possibly ethnographic, historical method of analyzing blog genres. What a mouthful!

Open Mic Night at the Blogstopper

So we get to blog on any topic related to research! What shall we talk about? Me thinks of speaking on the relevance of Monty Python humor on the United States and the infidels who do not get it, but me thinks that is also a little off topic. Oh well.

The topic then shall be on some other research I am doing that I have found very interesting. For my research project in the Visual Rhetoric class, I am examining idealized female images on video game covers. Surprisingly, little research has been done into the marketing of video games concerning the images used. A lot of research has been conducted on the images within the games, but not on the marketing. So far, virtually all of the game covers using a female image, use an idealized image. What does it mean? Does it even matter? I contend that yes, it does matter.

First of all there is the ethical issues related to using any idealized form - male or female. On the other hand, game manufacturers may be inadvertently offending a potential part of their market by using such images. Female gamers have been slowly taking up a larger part of the market. In addition, the average age is on the increase. Whereas a few years ago, the typical gamer was a teenager, now the average age is creeping into the upper twenties and even thirties. It seems to me that an older, smarter, savvier game buyer, will need to be marketed to in a different way.

On the other hand, maybe I am full of bologna, and no one really cares. Perhaps the average game buyer doesn't really worry about the images used on box covers, advertisements, and in the games themselves. My research involves looking at the past literature and conducting a semiotic analysis of the images. I would propose conducting additional research into whether or not these images do influence the potential market. My guess is they do.

Top Ten or Twelve

What are the top ten things I have learned in this class. Here goes - In Online Documentation, I have learned...

• that I need to learn a lot more about online documentation
• how to make a template in Dreamweaver (Thanks Tim!)
• basic HTML tags
• that I do not have any clue as to what Johnson is talking about in Datacloud
• that online environments are ludic and iterative
• Steve Jobs keeps his job in large part because of his charisma
• the current web site for S&TC sucks
• the feng shui web site can rock with a few tweaks
• it is important to know how people go about their daily work in order to determine how technology can best serve them
• there are good examples and formats for research proposals
• audience analysis is important in web design
• remediation can involve reverse engineering of prior and new technologies so that features can be liberally borrowed

Please note that these are not in any particular order.

Remediation unveiled

Well, it's back to blogging. It seems like a long time, but I guess that is due to spring break. In addition, my hard drive crashed last Friday and I have been spending time reloading what I could salvage. As a result I am a bit behind in my work (sorry Dr. Mara!). At any rate, I need to define what remediation is. To start, let's look at what Bolter and Grusin have to say. The definition in the text basically says that remediation is the process by which new media technologies improve upon or remedy prior technologies. This remind me of a discussion from a class last term. We were discussion resistance to new media and the topic of "tally sticks" came up. Tally sticks were used to keep financial records in England until they were replaced by paper. Following is an excerpt from eXplore Parliament:

Tally sticks were an ancient method of accounting used by the Treasury.
Notches were cut into wooden sticks according to a code. The sticks were then
split down the middle and the Treasury kept one half and the debtor the other.
When the debt was paid the two halves were matched to see if they 'tallied'.
Tally sticks were abolished in 1783 but their use continued until 1826. The fire
at the Palace of Westminster in 1834 was caused by the burning of old tally
sticks. The fire soon got out of control as there were huge numbers of these
sticks.

Eventually, the new replaced the old. In more recent times, you can see the same thing happening with CDs and vinyl records, as well as DVDs and VHS. I don't believe that the old is always replaced though. Take paintings for example, which were not replaced by the photograph.

In addition, new media oftentimes borrow from older technologies and the old from the new. Pictures use the frame just as paintings do and DVDs use chapters just like books. On the flip side, TV news now uses many features found on Web pages. It has become hypermedia in the sense that there is audio, video, images, and scrolling text, all in multiple frames on the screen. So there it is. Those are my thoughts so far on remediation. I am interested to see where this takes us in the next few weeks.

Mechanism-Telos

Tonight's entry contains the answers to three questions.

1. Out of the list generated in class, pick the two most important mechanisms.
2. Connect the mechanism with the telos. Describe how they are related.
3. How do you measure each mechanism?

The two mechanisms that we chose are employment and certification and they are related to the telos (status of the field) in a number of ways. For one, certification elevates, or at least maintains, the status of the field. By producing qualified graduates with the appropriate credentials, colleges and universities supply the field with a continuous flow of knowledgeable workers. Likewise, employment ties into status for a similar reason. Employers are looking for credentialed prospects and once the student gains employment they begin contributing to the status of the field.

Finally, how do you measure each mechanism? I think the obvious answers are that employment is measured by placement rates and certification (or graduating with a diploma) can be measured by graduation rates and/or completion of program rates. In addition, post-graduation surveys such as employer satisfaction surveys and graduate surveys can be conducted. Following is an explanation of each.

1. Placement rate - measure the number of graduates who find gainful employment in their field. Obviously the key words are "in their field." Finding employment in any area is not a measure and there would be no connection to the telos/status if the graduate isn't employed in his or her field.
2. Completion of program - measure how many students who enroll actually complete their program of study. Students who do not complete the program cannot contribute to the field and should not be considered a successful "product" of the program.
3. Employer satisfaction surveys - measure employer's satisfaction with the graduate and his or her skills as developed via the program.
4. Graduate surveys - measure the graduate's satisfaction with the program and how well that student perceives the education he or she has received. Does the student believe that the education he or she completed has prepared him or her for employment in the field.

What Have I Done for My Research Project?

What I have I done? Well, I am not sure that this will take 250 words, but here goes. (Isn't technical communication about bringing down the walls of text? I could probably do this in a few bullet points.)

There are several things I have done for my research project. Please realize that some of these cross over into my thesis and Online Documentation class. At this point, I have actually done quite a bit of research. This has mainly included looking at what has been done in relation to blog genres. Some of the people I have (figuratively) run into in cyberspace include Carolyn Miller, who conducted a lot of the original work in this area of genres, Rebecca Blood (gotta love the name), Jill Walker, and although not technically a person, the Media class at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey. There have been a few others that are currently on my annotated bibliography, but those listed are the ones I have utilized the most.

In addition, I have been kind of in a continual state of revision with my research proposal. I think it is finally pretty close to complete. I am trying not to get too hung up with this because I could end up wasting time by rehashing the same old stuff. However, I do find that it helps clarify my thoughts and the "plan" becomes ingrained in my mind.

Last week, I spent a few minutes talking with Dr. Mara about where this was all heading. That was a definite plus because, as a result, I finally got the proposal to where I think it ought to be. I have always found that I work best when I can bounce ideas off of someone else. Sometimes my wife is a big help in that area; sometimes it needs to be some else who has more knowledge of the topic, or who is more familiar with my own personal work.

At any rate, that's about it. This next week is going to be spent getting the annotated "bib" together. Even though it is spring break and I would rather be someplace warm, it is kind of relaxing to just sit and read at a slower pace than what usually occurs during a regular class week. However, thoughts of the Caribbean still linger...

Blog on a Blog on Blogging

The blog I am commenting (blogging) on is called BlogOnBlogs a weblog review by the RSC (Richard Stockton College, New Jersey) Intro to New Media Studies Class, Fall 2003. This blog was a project that was conducted in conjunction with a visit from Jill Walker, who is a digital culture scholar and Associate Professor of Humanistic Informatics at the University of Bergen. I have followed some of Dr. Walker's work during my thesis research into blogging.

One of the focuses of this class was on reviewing blogs and determining possible genres In writing reviews, the following criteria were used:

• Identity -- Who is behind the blog? Is the author an individual or a group of people? Is the weblog a personal or professional project? Is its presentation formal or informal?
• Design -- What does the visual design of the blog establish about its purpose and intent? Is the site more about information of aesthetic appeal? Is the site easy to navigate?
• Content -- Is this a topic-focused blog? What genre of blog is it? Is the content informative, educational, entertaining?
• Time -- How long has the site been in operation? How often is it updated? What does searching through the archives, from the first post forward, reveal? Has the blog changed over time?
• Linking -- Are there many links with comments in the posts? Does the blogger appear to mainly link to a particular type of resource, "authorative" sites, etc.? Does the main purpose of the weblog seem to be link to other sites on the Web, or is the blog more of a journal/forum for local content?
• Blog Roll -- What other types of sites does the blogroll link to? Does the blogroll indicate what type of community the blogger is trying to identify him or herself with?
• Inbound links -- Using Google, determine what sites link to this blog. What community of readers links to the site?
• Discussion/comments -- Is this a discussion-oriented blog? If so, how active are the comments on the blog? Do many of the same people comment often? How would you describe the types of comments made? Likewise, are there any trackbacks from other sites?
• Audience analysis -- Taking into account all of the above, how would you describe the blog's target audience?

As a result of the reviews, it was determined that classifying blogs according to content is difficult at best because blog content is so varied. Instead, it might be more feasible to classify blogs "as 'formal' genre -- the majority of blogs share certain technical characteristics (regularly updated, posted in reverse chronological order, various types of engagement with the larger network as detailed in Dr. Walker's weblog definition) -- and perhaps these technical commonalities define blogs as a genre in the same way that 5/7/5 syllables define haiku."

This is of extreme importance to my research as my initial intention was to attempt to classify according to content. I am now in the process of reevaluating my research goal in light of this information. Stay tuned!

Corporate Brainstorming

I'm blue! I'm blue! I'm blue!

I recently found out that I am part of the blue team. I have no idea who else is on the blue team, but I don't mind being blue. At any rate, I am flying by the seat of my pants, because I missed class due to illness. If anyone tells me that attending class is not important, I will laugh in their face. HaHaHaHaHaHa. So anyway...I really am not sure what to write about. I guess I will do my best, but it is difficult when you weren't part of the "conversation."

As for what I can discern from the information on the course Blackboard site, the team has decided that this course (Resources and Research in Technical Writing) exists for gaining knowledge and experience about/with research, laying the foundation for thesis work, meeting graduation requirements, learning information about the professional world in regard to resources and research, and gaining information about practical application.

In addition, in relation to the English Department, the course exists for academic research reasons, meeting governmental and accreditation guidelines/requirements, and providing well-trained, knowledgeable and skilled information distributors.

Finally, in relation to the instructor, the course exists for distributing information, fulfilling academic responsibilities, promoting an ideology, pursuing a vested interest, and enjoying the pleasure of teaching such a talented group of students!

The mechanism is made of up the following:

Students

• Degree (I am assuming this refers to the required classes a student must take)
• Professional status (???)
• Professional experience (???)
• Money
• Instructor's shared experience
• Course material
• Work ethic-effort
• Interest
• Professional demand

In looking these over, I am not sure how all of these fit into the "mechanism" as it relates to students. Certainly, the money that students provide and the work ethic they put in as well as their interest and the experience each brings to the classroom seem to apply. But the degree, status, instructor's shared experience, course material, and professional demand all seem external.

English Department Administration

• Paying students
• Material means
• Professional need-something outside of the University
• Professional demand

Teacher

• Positive learning environment
• Interested/participating students
• Money
• Classroom
• Materials
• Requirements for course
• Professional demand

Similarly, a few of the items listed under the department and teacher seem to be external to their mechanism as well. I am hoping that this all comes together after class tomorrow.

In reflecting on the relationship between the Telos and mechanism, it seems to me that there is an ongoing process at work. Students seek information, enroll, pay their money, are advised, schedule class, put in the effort (to varying degrees), receive a return on their investment, rinse, and repeat. The machine turns. From a corporate standpoint, it is much like the relationship developed between a business and (hopefully) repeat customers. A series of exchanges takes place, the buyer reflects upon the decision (is there buyer's remorse?) and either comes back for more or breaks off relations.

Articula-ula-ulation

the process of articulation - how does articulation operate

Okay. Here we go. In Datacloud articulation is defined as "...the form of the connection that can be made between two different elements, under certain conditions. It is a linkage that is not necessary, determined, absolute and essential for all time" (9).

That made absolutely no sense to me the first time I read it. Please write in English! Actually that definition isn't too bad, but there has to be more, and better. With that thought in mind, I went on a search for knowledge.

At first I had a difficult time with this concept. For that matter, I have a difficult time wrapping my head around a lot of theory. As a result of my shortcomings, I decided to investigate my esteemed classmate's blogs. I checked out Chelsea's first and got nowhere. Sorry Chelsea, but it sounded too much like more theory :). So I looked at Meghan's and Lisa's and those helped a bit more. At least I know I am not the only one having trouble with this.

After my blog tour I decide to check out Wikipedia wik (author's spelling) said, "Articulating principles 'operate by combining existing elements into new patterns or by attaching new connotations to them'" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articulation_(sociology)). This definition, combined with the information from the rest of my search, helped me to start formulating the beginnings of a new understanding. Alas, a new dawn!

I would suggest that the way multimedia software mimics the buttons used on VCRs and DVD players is an example of articulation and the process. The Play (triangle), Pause (double vertical lines), and Stop (square) buttons look the same and make it easier for computer users to assimilate the new technology. Now if they could just program in a flashing clock for my parents! What is it and how does it operate? In a way, I think that the quote from Wikipedia answers both questions about articulation. Enough said.

Or maybe not...

In thinking about this a bit more, I am not sure if the example I gave is a good one. I was reading from Practices of Looking (by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright) for my Visual Rhetoric class and the authors provided an example of how Madonna used images associated with the Catholic Church such as the crucifix, etc. and combined that with trappings associated with Marilyn Monroe to create a new persona. Perhaps this is a better example of articulation. Madonna took existing patterns and combined them into something new.

Blogging and Podcasting

I read an interesting article today in the Toledo Blade by Matthew Fordahl entitled "'Podcasting' Lets Masses Do Radio Shows" (a different name was used in the Blade). It explains the recent growth of "Podcasting" where individuals can create audio broadcasts on their computers and then make them available for download onto iPods (hence Podcasting). In essence these are audio blogs and in fact, before Podcast became the term to use, they were often called audio blog posts. Part of the attraction is the possibility of participative media, like blogs, where any Joe Schmoe with a computer can voice his or her opinion. In addition, while Podcasting may sound like radio, there is no government oversight. At least not yet. It will be interesting to see where this goes in the coming years.

You can read the article at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2798-2005Feb6?language=printer.

The site requires registration but is free.

A "Rude" Awakening

And it is an awakening of sorts.

Carolyn Rude's article looking at the issue of reports in public policy debates had some interesting points. I had never really thought about a piece of rhetoric and its completion, or more specifically, whether that piece "ended" once it was submitted, published, spoken, etc. or if it continued to have influence as part of a larger, ongoing conversation. Perhaps it is because of the influence of teaching a composition class where a piece is "completed" once it is submitted. I think I had an inkling in the back of my mind that the influence continued and I certainly have had experience with rhetoric in that respect. Previous research that I have participated in has involved a review of the literature, a conversation that I, in turn, contributed to. It has also been part of the discussion in this course. I had just never really considered it before.

I think that Rude makes interconnections between the original work, in this case Powering the Midwest, and subsequent publications as well as the debate about renewable energy and it cost-effectiveness. In addition, the report is tied into other publications and advocacy events that the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) are affiliated or connected with in some way. One example of the influence of this report and the power of an ongoing conversation is that of how a group of citizens in conjunction with UCS help prevent a repeal of an Iowa law that required utilities to generate some of their power through renewable sources. The end result was the formation of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition which worked to strengthen the law and prevent efforts to weaken or repeal renewable energy law.

These efforts came in many forms: reports, verbal exchanges, legal documents, etc. The point being that all of these rhetorical exchanges worked together, over time, to change public policy on renewable energy. The various forms are simply several facets of the conversation.

Article available http://www.leaonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15427625tcq1303_3?cookieSet=1 .

Usability

Ah! Back to blogging. The questions for today's blog include:

• What makes for a really usable website?
• What are the most useful websites and why?

Usability? I think there are several factors that go into making a website usable. To me, one of the most important factors is simplicity. Too often, websites are so cluttered, they are difficult to use. It is hard to find the information you need because it is lost in the clutter. Needle in the haystack theory of website design. Simple, to me, means that only necessary links are provided and the design is one that has navigation bars at top, left, and possibly bottom for basic information. When additional navigation bars are added, on the right for instance, it just seems to clog things up.

Another factor is workable links. There is nothing more frustrating when navigating a website then to find that part of the links are inoperable. Even if the links are working, if the webpage has the wonderful message "Site Under Construction," I will probably go someplace else for the information I need. To me, it makes much more sense to complete the site before loading it for public access.

What are the most useful websites, and why? The most useful websites (and I am not saying this to be a smarta**) are sites that are usable. They also have to be locatable. If you do a search for information and the site does not show up, then it is useless. The site must also contain information that someone is interested in.

Research Proposal (really, really rough)

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose a classification system for blogs and, in addition, research the feasibility of using such a classification system. In order to do so, bloggers will be surveyed to gain an understanding of how they view their own blogs. This information can then be used to set up various classifications. To begin, however, a matrix that combines two current classifications systems will be used to determine each blog’s form and style.

The blog form is based on Jill Walker’s classification into type of content: textual, photographic, video, and audio. The blog style is taken from Rebecca Blood’s classification according to style, which is based largely on content. According to Gurak, et. al., Blood’s classification can be broken down into two styles: “…an original filter-style, where the blogger is primarily an editor and annotator of links, and a later, more personal ‘blog-style’ weblog, where bloggers engage in ‘an outbreak of self-expression.’” Whereas the first letter in the matrix identifies he form, the second letter identifies the style.

After information is gathered from various bloggers, sub-classification systems will be developed to specifically identify the blogs. It is anticipated that these classifications will include a variety of subclasses such as academic, humor, gaming, adult, business, etc. The end result will be a notation system to aid in classification. Therefore, a blog may be identified as TF-political, meaning the blog is text-based and filter style, where the blogger acts as an editor and annotator of links regarding political issues. Or, a blog might be classified as VP-academic, where the blogger uses personal video to expound on academic issues.

It is my belief that this type of classification system can help by aiding others in making sense of blog contents, searching for information, improving the accuracy of a search, understanding a complex topic, differentiating between different blog topics, and locating similar blogs.

The other part of the research is to determine whether a classification system such as this is feasible. It is acknowledged that some blogs might defy classification, but it is only through examination that this can be determined. Even if some blogs do not fit neatly into any specific classification, the system may still be useful for the reasons mentioned above.

The following is a rough look at several research-related factors.

Cost
None?

Time
This project will be spread out over an eight to ten week period ending mid-April 2005 with data collection proceeding almost immediately.

Audience The audience for this project would include academia, researchers, bloggers, portion of general public that views blogs, government, ISPs, web portals.

Review of the Literature
To be completed

Research Plan
To be completed

Evaluation To be completed

Accomplishing Goals

The following two questions were asked in relation to our online documentation class:

• What did I do to accomplish my goals in OD today?
• How might I approach the next class to more fully accomplish this?

In reference to the first question, the primary things I did were to complete the reading assignments and review. Because of my background in computers, I was already pretty familiar with the readings. However, I am not very familiar with HTML. Because of this, I spent time just playing around with the code and seeing what I could come up with. It was pretty easy to add bold and italics and a little bit harder to add links to other pages and e-mail, but not that hard. I was able to set up links to my blogs as well as my BG e-mail address. Essentially, I just went out and found examples, looked at the source code, and revised it to fit my needs. This is something that Dr. Mara mentioned in class on Wednesday. Copy and paste are indeed your best friends. I find that experimenting with the code is always the best way for me to learn. I have always done this, whether it be while in the process of learning software such as Word, Excel, etc. or learning code like we did Visual Basic. During the class, I created a program for my daughter that allowed her to learn her times tables. It essentially took two numbers, asked her to multiply them, and she then typed in the answer. The results were written to a txt file for me to review (she didn't know that part). It was simple, but fun for me and her.

In reference to the second question, at this point I do not think I would do anything different. I know how I learn best and have been practicing this for years. While we are learning the basics of HTML and Dreamweaver, I will continue to play as a method of learning.

Research Question

I have been struggling with this one a bit over the past few days. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that I have so many varied interests. If I stick with the blogging idea, I am looking at a couple of avenues. One involves the need for a code of ethics for blogging. I guess that the question might be:

Is a code of ethics necessary, ethical, beneficial, harmful...for bloggers?

I have also thought about looking at blogs from the viewpoint of categorizing them. Dr. Mara has suggested that I look at Carolyn Miller's work in regard to this topic. Specifically, her publication Into the Blogosphere. Possible questions related to the question of genre include:

What blog genres exist? Is it even necessary to categorize blogs? Why or why not?

Finally, I have started looking at an area completely separate from blogging. I have always been an avid computer gaming enthusiast, and recently have become more interested in online gaming. In addition, I just found out that I have been officially accepted into the doctoral program in Communication Studies here at BG! In talking to the graduate coordinator, the subject of communcation in online environments, and more specifically, online games, came up. I was also intrigued by some of the readings in the English 112 reader regarding this subject. I particularly enjoyed Alex Pham's "Boy, You Fight Like a Girl," which dicussses gender switching in online games. So...as a third possibility, I might like to look at how reactions differ between male and female or female to female characters in online gaming.

Ta Ta for now!

My Interests

Today's blog is about my interests. What do I like? In a sense, this is a lot about what I want to be when I grow up! Heck, I am already 41 (soon to be 42), so I guess I should start figuring that out. On the other hand, there is a lot to be said for never growing up completely! I am planning on proceeding on with my Ph.D. here at BG in the Communication Studies department where I intend on focusing on mass media. I have been accepted into the program by the graduate committee at the Communication Studies department, but am waiting for full faculty approval and for news of a funded position. Lately, I have become interested in ethical standards in relation to blogging and I am considering this topic as a possible thesis. However, I have many varied interests. ANYTHING technology related kind of fits into that mix. When it comes to computers and the internet, I find myself drawn to all aspects including hardware, software, networking/internet, coding, and so on and so forth, etc. etc. etc.!

Back to the blogging discussion and ethical standards. There is a conversation started on Blogging, Journalism and Credibility by Rebecca MacKinnon, who is with Harvard Law school's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. In addition, check out this site by Martin Kuhn, a Ph.D. student at UNC who is currently studying the issue of blog ethics. The Harvard site is actually a discussion based on a code of ethics Kuhn has proposed.

What is interesting to me about the whole notion of an ethical code of conduct for blogging is that at first glance it seems useless. How do you enforce such a code? Can you? Is enforcement necessary or is the code simply a set of guidelines? Blogging seems to be an ever-changing, growing, organic activity and it would be difficult at best to try and enforce a code. How do you police something that is in a continual state of change?

If you take the notion that this type of code is not supposed to be enforced, then why bother having a code at all? The same question has to apply to other codes though. What about codes of ethics for legal, medical, human resource, marketing, and accounting professionals? Boy Scouts? What purpose do the codes serve if they cannot be enforced. There certainly could be legal and professional ramifications in some industries. Quite honestly, I do not know enough about this topic yet to answer these questions (which makes it a good project for research I guess!). I could go on and on, but I think I will stop for now until I have learned more about the topic. Until then, happy blogging.

The Rise of the Creative Class (tROTCC)

Interesting. Very interesting. I did enjoy reading this article and have visited the website for tROTCC. I consider Columbus to be my hometown even though my family moved a few times when I was younger and we now live in Findlay. Columbus was ranked 33 out of the 332! If you are interested, check out where your favorite city ranks at http://www.creativeclass.org/rankings.shtml. Enough of my ramblings. I do believe that Florida had some interesting insights. To me, it was almost like common sense. Why wouldn't creativity lead to economic growth? Florida states on page 17:

This begs the question of what accounts for the ability of some places to
attract and capture a greater quantity or quality of these flows. The answer, I
believe, lies in openness, diversity, and tolerance. Our work finds a strong
correlation between, on the one hand, places open to immigrants, artists, gays,
and socioeconomic integration, and, on the other, places that experience high
quality economic growth.

It seems to be that if a culture is open to diversity in its many forms, this would include diversity of ideas. New ideas breed new opportunities which lead to growth.

I would appreciate clarification on one of his statements. On page 8 he states that "three-quarters of the graduates identified location as more important than the availability of a job when selecting a place to live." What he doesn't state is why location was so important. Perhaps location was important because of family. Did the graduate choose to live close to his or her hometown? He does not show that location was important because of some artistic or cultural reason yet that seems to be the implication. Maybe his focus groups generated the reasons as to why location was important, but he doesn't make that clear here.

I hope that doesn't seem nitpicky, but it bothered me as I was reading the article. The book would be fascinating to read and could probably clear up the questions I have. I do not see why many of the features would not useful to many different groups. For instance, the bike paths. They are not just for old people or young people or families. Likewise, cities with cultural attractions such as museums are not just for patrons of the arts. That is one of the reasons I like Columbus. There is so much to do there for any age range.

What I want to learn

Gee! What do I want to learn? I don't think I have ever been asked that question by a professor before. Thanks Doc! At any rate, this is a topic I have been struggling with. I am attempting to combine projects from this class, research, visual rhetoric, and my thesis. The problem is that since I have so many interests, I have a hard time narrowing my focus. Recently however, I have stumbled across articles relating to blogging and ethical standards. Anything that can help me learn more about this area would be helpful.

In addition, while I feel comfortable with technology and have no problems learning about different types of technology, I am woefully aware of my lack of competence in most things web-related. More specifically, I have interests in HTML, Dreamweaver, Flash, etc. I looked at the classes offered through the university, but they are all scheduled at the same time I am teaching a class. Any input on alternatives would be appreciated. I have used Microsoft FrontPage before and am fairly comfortable with that. After looking at the schedule for the course website, I am encouraged to see boot camps scheduled for HTML, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop.

Finally, I would like to get a better handle on how all of this ties in to online documentation. I am one of those people who do better when I can see the whole picture and right now, I have no idea where we are going. When the big picture is present, the individual assignments, readings, and projects make more sense to me.

Ethical Standards in Blogging

I read an article entitled "Pundits Pondering Need for Ethics Code" which appeared in the January 22nd edition of The Toledo Blade. It has given me some ideas on what my thesis may focus on. This is an AP article and I have not been able to locate a link for it through the Toledo Blade's website or on the net. As soon as I have it I will post the link here.

My favorite waiter selling Coco Locos. Oh how I miss the Bahamas!

Knowledge of On-line Documentation

My primary experience comes from teaching Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook. I have some, but limited, experience with FrontPage and PageMaker. In addition, I have dabbled in a variety of other software, but have no long-term practical experience using any of them. I have also worked with Microsoft NT networks running Windows 2000. Often, I have had to use the on-line help systems or had to search the Internet for assistance with technical issues since I have no formal training in end-user or networking applications. My academic career has been spotted with courses in multimedia including Visual Communications in Business and Industry and Multimedia Production. I have also some experience with Visual Basic. Programming languages come fairly easy to me and I actually started in programming at Ohio State in 1981 learning Fortran and Cobol among others. Over the years, I have been a witness to the much of the computer revolution. I am a blogging newbie and am looking forward to the experience! In addition, while I have a broad background with much of computer technology, I am not really a specialist in anything but Microsoft Office programs. I also have very limited Mac experience, but would like to gain some. I am looking forward to an interesting semester.