INSTAGRAM - Description of social media tool not covered in class (optional assignment)

Instagram is a Social media site where images and video (up to 15 seconds in length) are posted directly from cell phones using the Instagram app.  Like other Social Media, Instagram has 'followers' who track one another’s posts and can be set to Public or Private.

By double-tapping on a post you can like it or add a comment.  You can search people or topics, or follow those who follow you or others that you follow.  Instagram, like Twitter, uses hashtags to group topics.

The Instagram app lets you apply some basic filters (24 for images and 13 for video) right from the app.  Some of the filters and edits that can be applied with the app include contrast, warmth, saturation, highlights, shadows, vignette, tilt shift and sharpness. (1)

Individuals say that Instagram allows them to post a story of their lives through images.  But I, personally, know of companies using Instagram as their primary marketing tool that have gone from zero to millions in Revenues in 3-5 years.  Certain industries such as clothing and fitness do well, and I have a client who just got funding for her Cross-Fit gym based on her 190,000 Instagram followers; her Grand Opening is tomorrow.

Instagram's target demographic is teenagers, college students, businesses and just about everyone who has a story to tell, or a product to sell and wants to connect with others through images and short videos.

I predict strong growth for Instagram as more and more businesses begin to learn of its power.  Those who have figured it out don't like to share their secrets, but it will become more popular in the next few years as a business marketing tool, as the word gets out.

I recently created my first account, and plan to post photos from the Spartan race I ran two weeks ago as soon as I have time; I am really hoping to get them posted this weekend.

Source(s)
(1) About.com - "What is Instagram"

Module VIII. Online Gaming Blog Post

My first online gaming experience was Everquest in the year 1999 or 2000.  My last online gaming experience was Everquest II, last Friday night.  In between, I have played many games, some for a few months and some just in Beta. 

Other than Everquest I and II, I am not an avid role playing gamer.  I have greatly enjoyed, for many hours, playing Planetside 2, an online FPS owned by Sony Online Entertainment until last week when the division was sold to a Management Investment Company called Daybreak Games.  Everquest I and II have also been sold as part of the SOE sale to Daybreak.  This matters because Everquest Next was in development and I planned to play that when released in a couple of years, so now time will tell if the game ever sees the light of day given the layoffs and management restructuring at Daybreak Games within of  a week of the sale, including the layoff of Dave Georgeson, the Executive Producer.

I have played, for short periods of time, the FPSs Call of Duty, Battlefield and America's Army online.  RPGs include Vanguard: Saga of Heros from Brad McQuaid's Sigil, RIFT by Trion, and Aion, though only for short periods of time.  Also, in the RPG genre I have played Everquest I and II for about 15 years.  I have Beta tested a large number of good and bad games over the years, too numerous to name or remember.  I played Eve Online for a few days, as well.

The first few years of Everquest were truly magical, and although I spent way too much time in that game, I would never trade the experience for anything.  I still have friends from those days and to this day, I can, honestly, say that those few years were some of the best memories of my entire life.  The reason it is possible to lump entire years under the category of the Everquest I Years, is because other than working and minimal amounts of sleep needed for survival, that was all I did - thank god for the folly of youth.

Today, my online gaming is extremely limited, and sadly, the magic is gone.  Much of it, especially in Everquest II just feel robotic, and I am bored far more often than not.  This makes me sad, but life moves on, and I am pursuing far bigger and harder challenges.  I still remember overcoming my social anxiety issues by grouping in EQ I, whereas today I could comfortably lead a room of people, in real life.  Everquest was an important part of my life that I will never forget, and maybe someday a game will come out that will recapture that magic, but today, I prefer to be out in the world mixing with people, and my online gaming is for short periods of time when I am bored, usually just before bed.

Assignment: Making a Movie

Well, I guess I misunderstood the Theme we were supposed to create for our BLOG.  Oh well...

For the movie, I will use Photoshop to create, edit and render the movie.  Last semester I took Photoshop I, and one of the modules was learning to use the movie editing features and functions incorporated into the last two versions of Photoshop.  I have used AVID when I took some Film Production classes at SCC, but I don't expect to ever need software with that level of sophistication again, and since Photoshop is both far easier to use then AVID or Adobe, and far more powerful then Windows Movie Maker, and since I need practice with it anyway for the Advanced Photoshop class I am taking this semester, it seems like the logical choice, both in terms of the immediate need in this class and for my long term skill development.

The video editing features in Photoshop provide just the right mix of features and sophistication to make movies for the web, without the learning curve of professional editing software.  I already pay for it for my Photoshop class, so essentially, it is free for me to use for this class.

Happy Valentine's Day run

I have never - and will never,  claim to be an expert in the matters of love, but I think I hit a new low, yesterday, in that department, when at the conclusion of my Hot Yoga class at 5:30 pm, the teacher wished us all a Happy Valentine's Day.  "Well, how about that," I thought, "who knew!"

So I decided to do something I have never done; I went straight home, and without taking a shower, switched into dry clothes and headed straight for the mountain.  As I started, my legs felt surprisingly strong for having just finished a yoga routine with lots of deep poses working my legs.  I decided to imagine they were little pistons that kept driving into the ground

Long story short, for the first time ever, I made it all the way to the top of the Gateway Loop Pass, without stopping for even one single step to catch my breath or to let the burn in my legs recede.  I finished the 5.5 mile sprint without stopping at the top or on the way down. I felt awesome, and could only think of what a great Valentine's Day present I, unintentionally, gave to myself.