Discover Bangladesh

Hey folks.. Here is the link for my final project( digital part). I worked in a group  with Peter, Roman and Ana. We really enjoyed doing this project. Hope you’ll too when you watch it..  So guys Please have a look. 😀

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC49sjlgQBw&feature=youtu.be

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So  for our digital part of the project, first we had to make script on what we are going to talk about. We met in the library building and took a study room  to work on filming the project on last Monday the 14^th.  I brought my Creative Vado High Definition recorder as planned and Roman had his IPhone as backup. The entire shooting was directed by Peter and filmed by both Peter and me.  We were really excited and had fun while doing the shooting. We were doing the same clip over and over to get a perfect one.

Later Roman posted the clips onto Dropbox which each of us was able to use from our desktops and we each were able to piece everything together. We decided to use Windows Movie Maker for the video as Roman suggested. He played a crucial role in editing and posting the video.  Roman also posted the video on his YouTube account and sent the link to all of us. I’ll embed the link of our video on my blog page  tomorrow so that everyone can see. :D..

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For the final project I’m working with my presentation group members. At the beginning we were thinking of creating our own social network on Wall.FM and were thinking of video shooting each other to show a step by step process of how to create one. We also submitted a group proposal to Prof Gershovich. After reviewing our group proposal , Prof suggests us with a great idea. He suggests us that we could film each other pretending to be a social network and make a script on why we are good as a social network. We could also make it funny. So we are working based on what Prof has suggested us.

So on Monday we are going to do our video shooting part for the project  and we are all meeting at the campus.

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Since the beginning of this semester I was eagerly waiting for the Spring break. I had so many plans but it totally betrayed me. First of all, I was working pretty much the whole break week. Then right after the break I and my group had a Presentation due. Throughout the week I had to manage time between my work and my homework from other classes and Of course researching for the CIS 3810 presentation. Above all I also had to give some time to my hubby on Skype who lives in Edinburgh since I couldn’t go to see him on this break.

I would say my entire break was connected with new media and technology. I was glued to my smart cell phone which I would like to thank the most. It gave me pretty much all the information updates, entertainment that I needed while I was out of home all day.  I stayed connected with my group members, stayed connected to the world (Through Google Apps), entertained by playing games and watching my favorite shows while I was on the train. The android Skype video calling apps had a crucial role on my spring break to make me not feel so stressed and apart from my family. I find my smart phone and its apps the most easy and convenient way to of being connected with my nearest ones living far away from me.

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In his blog “Internet con men ravage publishing” John MacArthur has criticized internet journalism and the quality of internet publishing. He agreed with another internet journalism critic Patrick de St.Exupery and believes that whether paid or unpaid, internet doesn’t just reduce the value of writing, it destroys value.

I totally disagree with MacArthur here that internet is reducing the value of writing. It’s giving us the opportunity to know what other people’s view on a particular topic. We are able to share our opinion about writings on the web, which actually gives more value to that particular writing.

He further criticized some of the new Internet lover freelance writers that how they are keeping quiet when their works/writings are being published on the internet for free usage. He suggests the internet writers to put up paywalls on their blogs so that they would get paid for their valuable work. Again I disagree with him about putting paywalls on the writings. Some people really love writing blogs for free. They just want to share their opinion/thoughts with us. If a writer like Macarthur doesn’t want to publish on the internet for free then they shouldn’t. No one is forcing them to write for free. It should be someone’s choice whether they want to post it for free on the internet or not.

In my opinion, Internet is a source of information/knowledge where we shouldn’t be charging to get knowledge. I believe MacArthur should get modernize about the usage of internet and shouldn’t be pessimistic about the practice of free Internet journalism.

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In his blog post “The People Formerly Known as the Audience”, Jay Rosen has mentioned some crucial role new media today. In my point of view, Rosen tried to emphasize on the difference between the big/Mass media to small/Individual media.  One point was really interesting to me where he says, “Shooting, editing and distributing video once belonged to you, Big Media. Only you could afford to reach a TV audience built in your own image. Now video is coming into the user’s hands, and audience-building by former members of the audience is alive and well on the Web”.

Rosen is so right about this.  Today, any individual person is able to make, edit and distribute his/her own video and can create millions of audiences/viewers. He doesn’t have to be someone related to the big media. He/she could just stay at home and make his own video and just with a click on the mouse he could reach out to millions of viewers. For example, I would like mention one name which is Keenan Cahill (an Internet Celebrity) a 17 years old boy had become very famous after posting his lip-syncing video of some award winner songs. Cahill launched his first famous lip-synced YouTube video on August 28, 2010 on the Katy Perry song Teenage Dream.

After watching his video on YouTube, many superstars came to do real video with Cahill. One thing really astonished me about this kid is that he is suffering from a rare genetic disorder called Maroteaux-Lamy Syndrome, also known as MPS-VI.  But his disease couldn’t stop him to reveal his talent in front of millions of audience/ viewers.  He was able to reach out the world from his small bedroom.

http://resolver2009.hubpages.com/hub/Who-Is-Keenan-Cahill

Like Keenan, there are probably thousand more new talents on the web now who are exposing their creations through new media everyday. I believe we the former audience/viewers are now able to create our own audience/viewers.  Our inspirations are right there on the web!

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It took me a while to think about exactly what image i will create for this Creative blogging assignment. Finally i came up with this image which was a randomly chosen image from Google. I edited it simply on Microsoft word 2010 and added the context on the right side of the image. On my first post, I’ve shared with you guys how Facebook has brought my destiny to me. So i found this Image really interesting and thought it would be a perfect one to express my happiness of being married with my loving husband.

A real pic of Fathul and Foujia is also attached below :D..

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After reading the first two chapters of Cognitive Surplus, I’ve come to find that Clay Shirky argues about how the Internet is creating a better and more democratic world by turning us from passive consumers into active producers and participants of information. I also found the reading very interesting that how he compared the role of Twentieth century’s TV culture with Today’s Internet culture on the first chapter (page 22,23). The media TV in past century was running as a consumption event only. People used to just watch it or enjoy it. They weren’t able to react on the consumption actively. Shirky called this event an unbalanced single event. In contrast, Today’s phones and Computers are balanced and have multiple events such as production, consumption and participation. When we buy them to consume we automatically own the means of production. We can now react on the consumption by sharing the consumed product or information with people around the globe through Web. A simple example of this is how we are blogging or tweeting or face booking each other about every little new thing we learn and share it.

Shirky also explained in a very clear way about how our free times are being switched from watching TV to browsing on web. However, while I was reading the first chapter it reminded me of my childhood when I used to be glued to TV after coming from school. I used to watch cartoon/Superman shows for hours after hours. Then did the homework at night. But what I see now a days, kids for example my younger sister who is 13 is more interested in doing homework and watching her favorite shows on computer at the same time. If she gets stuck with her homework she googles about it and finds an answer. The kids today could customize what they want to watch for example they could watch selected episodes from Spongebob Squarepants on internet. However, Just two decades ago when I was a little kid I didn’t have that much of choices. I rarely watch TV now. It’s not like I don’t get time to watch TV, its just I want to multitask while watching news or something. It is really fascinating that how the modern technology and media are changing our daily lives and giving us opportunity to participate actively. Can we project exactly what would be the world after two decades from now?

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If I were asked what I usually do when I’m home on the weekends, my answer would always be cooking. I try to make different Bangladeshi food and desserts when I get little free time. Past weekend I made Carrot Halwa, which is one of the most famous traditional Bangladeshi desserts.  Though this wasn’t my first time making carrot Halwa, but I thought I would share it on my site as a tutorial assignment.

To make Carrot Halwa, we’ll need the ingredients given below-

1 kg Carrots, 2 liter Milk, 2 cups of Water, 1 teaspoon Cardamom seeds, 4 tablespoons Ghee (butter), 4 cups of sugar (small size cup), 2 tablespoons Raisins, 2 tablespoons Almonds.

 Here are the steps to make delicious Carrot Halwa are given below-

1. Peel and slice the carrots into small pieces (not too small). Then put the water to boil, when it starts boiling add the sliced carrots. Cook for 5-7 minutes.

2. Drain the carrots from water and blend them (Don’t blend too much). Then set them aside for following step.

3. Boil the milk on medium-high heat in a non-stick pan until it is reduced to about 1 and half cup. Stir often to ensure the milk does not burn in the bottom of the pan. Set them aside.

4. Melt the butter in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the cardamom seeds. Then add the blended carrot paste and stir-fry for about 7-8 minutes. Carrots should be tender and slightly changed in color.

5. Add the milk and cook until the milk dries. This will take about eight to ten minutes.

6. Next add the sugar and stir-fry for another three to four minutes until the halwa starts to leave the side of the frying pan.

7. Remove the halwa from heat and arrange in a serving dish. Garnish with almonds and raisins.

Special Suggestion:

You could also cook the halwa a little more and pour on a greased plate. Spread the halwa until it is flat and 3/4 inch thick. After the halwa cools, cut in squared pieces. You could refrigerate them for up to months or so. When ready to serve just have to warm it for 10 seconds.

Though it takes about 2 hours to make this special dessert, but after tasting it, you would say it’s worth it. So folks take your time and try it if you’d like.

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Acccording to Lev Manovich Transcoding is the process by which something is transformed from one form into another. For example, taking media and turning it into computer data. However, once it is transcoded, or transformed, it takes on a different shape digitally while remaining the same visually to the user. Manovich refers to these two different visual planes as the culture layer and the computer layer. The culture layer is what remains recognizable to humans while the computer layer, you guessed it, is digital coding that the computer uses to translate into objects we are familiar with.

In my view, Manovich sees the Transcoding as an eternal process of new media. Manovich writes, “As hardware and software keep evolving and as the computer is used for new tasks and in new ways, this [computer] layer undergoes continuous transformation” (Page 46). As long as new technologies are developed, new office applications, new photo manipulation programs, new flash sites, etc., the computer layer will continue to evolve. The underwriting will become more complicated while new opportunities for the user become available. Visually, the screen will remain the same. The computer screen will still consist of individual objects of information that can be individually manipulated by the user with the aid of the ever-changing programs.

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