« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »
Today's University CSS-Development & Web Standards monthly meeting was about microformats. We had great attendance (30+) and Laurie McGinley did a wonderful job of presenting.
Next month we're taking a break from our regular meeting schedule due to our new conference event MinneWebCon.
Aside from my MFA thesis project, this was my most involved and best-developed project from graduate school (2001-2004). I am reposting it in observation of the 5th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Note that total soldier and civilian casualty estimates now range from a conservative 34,000 (President Bush's estimate) to more than 650,000 (based on a 2006 epidemiological study that also includes deaths due to disease and other non-military violence resulting from war).
On the other hand, there are stories of hope, such as this NPR story that documents a less violent area of Iraq that had formerly been known for unthinkable atrocities.
We can only hope that more stories of hope like this emerge over time, to ensure that all of the war-related deaths did not happen in vain. But with 34,000-650,000 deaths to assuage, it's difficult to imagine there ever being enough hope or success.
As I work on some new podcasts for University Counseling and Consulting Services (UCCS), I just need to give a shout-out to Colin McFadden in CLA, who manages Media Mill. It is by far my favorite multimedia web application! It is elegantly designed, easy to use, and powerful. How could it be any better?
Well, I do see that it will soon allow content creators to select their own still frame for videos. Very cool!
Thanks again, Colin!
I'm part of the U's New Media Research Network, and today's research breakfast included an excellent presentation on YouTube by Julie Jones, PhD candidate. She characterized YouTube's presence and success as comprising a "media metropolis", a place that people visit much in the way that they visit a city like New York, where a large variety of activities, content types, and cultures are concentrated in one location and result in a vibrant community.
Yet, for all of its richness and size, YouTube is successful for three more simple reasons: it is easy to find, easy to share, and easy to participate in. Compare this to other sites or applications that are either not easy to find, share, or participate in, and their lack of popularity is not a surprise.
I look forward to keeping up with Jones as she continues her YouTube research, as it is in the category of "social media" that continues to interest me a great deal. And while I do not expect to design media that are as wildly successful as YouTube, I do want to model my project goals on similar criteria, as I believe they are the foundation for success in today's Social Web.
I just returned from an invigorating two days in San Diego, immersing myself in the latest social networking developments and talking to industry experts. My head is still reeling....it was a fabulous professional development experience. I also made a lot of valuable contacts for MinneWebCon, including securing O'Reilly as a co-sponsor.
I'll be writing more on what I learned soon...