RC Cars Video

RC Cars Video

Bones on the Menu??

Purse...check. Wallet...check. Car keys...check. Dog...check?

Today, more than ever people are bringing their pets along for the ride. But that's not all; people are even bringing their furry four-legged friends out to join them for a bite to eat.
Legally, dogs are not allowed inside of any restaurant in the United States due to the State Health Laws. The FDA prohibits live animals in a restaurant where food is served. (Except for fish in tanks.)The exception to this rule is the American with Disabilities Act which states that restaurants are required to allow service and guide dogs at both indoor and outdoor areas of the restaurant.
Many restaurants, however, are catching on to the growing trend and opening up their patios to extremely well behaved canines. And of course, they have rules to follow: No barking, begging, jumping…etc. They only want dogs that act like well, a human. The patio cannot be fully enclosed nor must the only access be through the restaurant because the canine will not be allowed to enter.
Some restaurants will offer water and treats for Fido but that depends on the establishment. It is better to be prepared and come armed with your own water bowl, since it may make some people uneasy seeing a dog slobber all over the fancy dinner dishes.
Why can’t dogs go inside the restaurant? Even though your toy poodle may be housebroken, there is still room for error. Accidents can be distraction and will probably make you lose your appetite. Also, would you like some fleas with your salad? Didn’t think so.
While society is becoming more and more dog crazy, maybe we should just stick to enjoying them at the park. I’ll take a burger, no dog hair please. Woof!


View Pet-friendly Places in the Northeast Kingdom in a larger map

Final Project

For my final project I am going to do an interactive map and either a slideshow or podcast of pet-friendly places/things to do in the Lyndonville/St. Johnsbury area. I will include hotels, restaurants, The Dog Chapel, Kingdom Trails, all places that accept animals and do some research where else in the area accepts animals.

RC Cars

For my video, I plan on putting together a video about RC cars. A friend of mine just started it as a hobby, and while it geared more towards males, I actually find it fun to watch and can probably get some good video out of it.

I plan on interviewing my friend and maybe some other people to see what they think of the hobby. I also know an older man that has been doing this hobby to for a lot longer than my friend so I would like to interview him as well.

Audio Slideshow Project

I have decided to do my Audio Slideshow project on recycling. I want to find out where the level of importance recycling is to college students here on Lyndon State’s Campus and if it’s even a priority to students at all. I plan on finding out who maintains the recycling bins down by the student center and in the dorms and find out why there are not more throughout campus. I want to interview random students and find out if they always recycle (will go out of their way to recycle), sometimes recycle (when a recycling bin is available), or never recycle (they don’t really think about it.) I plan on taking pictures of the recycling bins, trash that has not been recycled (that should have been,) and people that I interview. My sound sources would come from a narrator (probably me,) the people I interview and maybe some music as well. My intended audience would be the LSC community, both students and faculty. This would make for an interesting story for this targeted audience because it could open the eyes of people who don’t even think about recycling and the impact that it could have on our world.

Slideshow and Photo Gallery Critique

Slideshow:

News Channel 5, WPTZ

On the right side of the homepage, there is a tab labeled "Slideshows." When I clicked on that, what I found was options, and lots of them. There was about 10 different slideshows to choose from with the options for more. I clicked on a slideshow "Growing Pains: Disney Stars Gone Bad."It consists of 8 pictures. It gives you the option to press play and have the slideshow play for you, or you can click on the next arrow and look at the pictures at your own speed, which I like. What I don't like is how there is no date anywhere to know when the slideshow was made. How am I supposed to know when this slideshow was made or if its current information or not? I don't. Not exactly smart for a news website to do. The pictures in this slideshow are just pictures of the actors, with captions on the pictures saying exactly what it was that they have done to label them "Disney Stars Gone Bad." The slideshow itself isn't bad, but if you ask me, this slideshow is not exactly "newsworthy."

http://www.wptz.com/index.html

Slideshow:

BBC News (UK)

I kind of had a hard time finding a slideshow from a news source with audio. I finally found one, but from the UK. Anyways, it titled "Early Expeditions to Everest." It's a slideshow of images to mark the 90th anniversary of the first expedition to the Himalayas. It is narrated by expedition photographer, Martin Hartley, accompanied by some music. I really enjoyed this, the photos were beautiful and Hartley did a good job of narrating by talking about what it would take to lug all of the camera equipment up the Himalayas with them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15312059

Photo Gallery:

Yahoo! News

I found a photo gallery titled, "Missing Missouri Baby Lisa Irwin." It consists of 21 photos and mostly consists of photos of police officers searching the home, mixed with pictures of the baby's parents and then some of baby Lisa, herself. Each photo has a caption on the right side of the picture, explaining what was going on in the picture, who's in it, and the date it was taken. I like this photo gallery because it shows pictures, but has a detailed caption to explain the picture to you, which gives you details of the story. There is also a view all tab where you can look at all of the pictures at once and without the captions. Good photo gallery, sad story :(

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/missing-missouri-baby-lisa-irwin-1317923557-slideshow/investigators-leave-home-missing-baby-lisa-irwin-kansas-photo-172115678.html

Podcast Story

College years are the time many students find themselves living on the Ramen Noodle budget.

Pinching pennies and living without become a way of life. Tuition, housing, and sheer lack of time are all contributing factors to the empty pockets, but there is hope if you know where to look for it.

The wonderful world of couponing opens the door to affording all of your favorite name brand commodities be it food, clothing, entertainment, or health and beauty care. Even with all of the obvious benefits and money saving possibilities coupons have to offer, many college students are a bit skeptical about the hobby, one student deeming it “a 35-year-old woman’s job.”

This is a surprising notion considering the recent booming popularity couponing has earned itself during the state of the economy. TLC has even awarded the hobby its own television show called Extreme Couponing, where men and women spend a countless number of hours clipping, strategizing, and pairing up their coupons to achieve the ultimate money saving game plan.

Oftentimes these devoted money savers will leave the store with multiple carriage loads and even more money than what they went in with. That’s right, some people can become so skilled in the ways of couponing that stores will be stuck paying them the difference of their savings versus the actual cost of a transaction.

Between classes, homework, studying, and actually having some form of social life in college, we can’t really expect students to get on such levels of extreme couponing. However, there is no reason why they couldn’t find the time to get a few coupons here and there to save a little extra money on their next grocery run.

This day and age we’re not talking about your mother’s couponing tactics of sifting through flyers with her reading glasses and trusty pair of scissors, no no we have the technology for that! There are a number of websites devoted to bringing the savings straight to you with the simple click of a button.

Couponsuzy.com is a wildly popular website with commercials airing on television informing people all across the country of the great deals awaiting them online. It’s very simple to navigate; you can search by category or brand. Its not limited to just groceries either, there are savings on health and beauty products, entertainment, and they also offer coupon codes that can be used at some of your favorite top name online stores like Sears, JCPenney, American Eagle, Walmart, and the list goes on and on.

On October 10 a few deals up for grabs are a saving of $2.00 on Aveeno hair care products, such as shampoo and conditioner, $1.00 off Smart Ones frozen entrées, or $2.00 off Listerine mouthwash.

The process in getting these coupons is as simple as a few clicks of a mouse. Each coupon has a small box in the lower right hand corner labeled “clip.” Clicking that will put a small check in the box. You can check off as many boxes as you want and when your finished click “print coupons” and watch as your money saving coupons spew out of your printer. Many stores will accept these coupons because the manufacturer makes them.

Couponsuzy.com is great for your everyday shopping needs but another website, Groupon.com, is great for more luxurious savings.

This is a website you need to subscribe to; once subscribed they will send you email alerts on possible savings you may be interested in. They have deals on hotels, jewelry, gym and yoga lessons, dry cleaning, spa treatments, fancy dining, and so much more.

The tricky thing about this website is that it’s a hit or miss. They offer certain deals at certain times and once that time is over the deal has passed. They also are not very Vermont or New Hampshire friendly. Most of the attractions are in large cities like New York.

If you are looking to treat yourself to a little get away, or maybe you need a gift idea for a friend this is definitely an interesting site to check out.

podcasts

The podcasts I chose to subscribe to were ABC news-Nightline-crime and punishment. I chose this one because its main focus is on high profile cases. One particular one that I listened to was the Michael Jackson trial. It outlined what was going on in the case and had courtroom audio as well which I liked. It played audio from Michael Jackson himself when he was supposedly drugged up. One thing I didn't like about it was that it wasn't updated reguarly and I would have liked more recent information on the Amanda Knox trial, however the last date that it was discussed was 9/23 which was more than a week ago.

Another podcast I chose to subscribe to was NPR: All Songs Considered Podcast. The first thing I noticed about it was it was updated frequently. It seems like every separate podcast is different from another, some they play songs in, others they have interviews. When I played the most recent was, there was some discussion but then they played some music that kind of freaked me out and then they critiqued the music. They continued to do that throughout the show, playing newer music (people that are not quite that mainstream yet) and then discuss weather they like them or not.

And the last podcast I chose to subscribe to was Chelsea Lately Video Podcast. I chose this one because shes normally pretty funny. I like it because there is video involved, but they were extremely short (just under two minutes) and I think they are just clips used from the Chelsea Lately show.

Map Project-Crimes on Campus

View Crime on Campus in a larger map

My group and I decided to do our project on the crimes committed on campus. We spoke with public safety and received a list of places on campus that incidents occurred between 9/17/11 and 9/20/11.

The information we got from public safety was very limited and we were not given many details about the crimes. There was eight in total and this shows that Whitelaw, a all-freshman dorm, had the most incidents within the three day period.

Whitelaw

-Smoking violation

-Underage drinking violation

-Underage drinking violation/marijuana usage

-Student injured (student hit head, found dizzy/tired)

Stonehenge Parking Lot

-Destruction of property (vehicle vandalized)

Rita Bole

-Larceny (student reported their PlayStation 3 stolen)

Poland/Rogers

-Failure to comply with directions

News 7

-Fire alarm was set off

Fox44now.com VS. CBSAtlanta.com

VS.

At first glance, I notice that both of the sites have organized drop down categories where one can go and find what they are looking for. I think this tool is useful.

Just looking at both sites, I find that Fox44 is much more appealing to the eye. On the very top of the page is what is called the "conversation room" with links to social media sites. Underneath that is a slideshow of top stories with videos attached. On the top right you notice a slideshow of pictures.

CBS Atlanta is almost the opposite. They have one picture from the top story on the top left, and recent videos on the right, however, you can tell right away that it is very wordy. Unlike Fox44, your going to have to read through the headlines to see what you want to look at. Fox44 has the same, but it is at the bottom of the page, and the most important and top stories are at the top in the form of pictures and video. CBS has "social tools" to link one to the social media but it is off to the right and does not come off as prominent as Fox44. CBS Atlanta also has more ads than Fox44, although they are smaller and more out of the way than they are on the Fox44 site.

I like the writing on both sites. I found the information to be condensed so you only find out whats important and not just a bunch of fluff. I do like how CBS offers local, national and world news on the front page. Fox44 only offers VT, NY and NH news.

Overall, I guess I don't understand whats the point of having an online site if you just have everything in the form of a article. If that's the case, then pick up a newspaper. I think that if you have an online news site you should take advantage of the technology out there and make it interesting, interactive and fun.

Critiquing NSN

The first thing I notice about the site is that its organized. I like things neat and in order so I can appreciate this. On the top of the page, there is tabs on the top directing you to where you want to go, whether it is sports in general, high school, college...etc. This is good for people who get distracted easily and a quick way to find what you are looking for. Also on the top of the page in the right corner is a box telling you when the next live game is. A nice touch.

Looking a little lower, you can't not notice the slide show in the middle of the page with some action shots from recent games. Good pictures. When you click on them, you are brought to an article about the game. Some of the articles were pretty long, but maybe they're supposed to be longer when writing about a game? not sure. I like the upcoming games box though. I like that its informative with the time and date of the game without having to click on it.

Not too many ads. I do notice a ad from LSC though. No comment.

I like that they have a link to like on facebook. Which is good networking. There's not too much I don't like, except maybe the long articles. Overall, I like it.

ONLINE NEWS WRITING 2

The Eatery Closes After a Decade

The Eatery, where special-education students came to work and gain experience in the food industry, is coming to a close after being open for 10 years.

This will save the school system $20,000 to $50,000 a year and is not needed anymore due to having partnerships with 80 other restaurants in the area.

ONLINE NEWS WRITING

Car Accident Leads to Heart Attack

John Barker,59, died earlier today of a heart attack after a automobile crashed through the window of The Subway Central Restaurant, where he was was dining.

The driver of the car, Annie Coulter, 82, reported that the brakes on her car failed. No other injuries were reported.

Ticket for Dog Biting

A dog bit a six-year-old, making this the dog’s second offense.

Police reported 1240 Victor Ave on Thursday evening where police found the child with minor injuries around its ear and neck.

The dog first bit a small child last year. Gordy Jamison, the dog’s owner was ordered a citation for having a vicious dog.

cbs atlanta

The first thing I notice about the site is a lot of options pop out to you. On the right side you have videos for the viewers that prefer to watch and not read, and for the readers, the headlines are smack, right in the middle of the page. There is not too many ads, typical amount for a news site. However, there is a lot more reading than graphics on the site. I like to read, so I don't mind that ,but society is getting spoiled to having instant gratification and having everything right there at a click of a button. I like the tabs on the top of the page and being able to choose what you want to look at through an categories and subcategories. Overall, I like it, the only negative comment I could make is that it could use some more visuals or graphics, especially on the home page.

This is my first post of Multimedia Storytelling. For homework we were told to critic another blog. This being the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th, I decided I would find a blog having to do with just that.

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/09/10/remembering-911-a-new-perspective-on-the-world/

The blog I found was written by a girl whom was in high school on 9/11/01. She now is in her 20s and works for homeland security. The beginning of the blog gets into detail about where she was that morning. I like that she added that because almost everybody remembers exactly where they were that moment, and as a country, that was a moment that changed us. She says in the blog that 9/11 changed our perspective on the world. Being a freshman in high school myself on 9/11, I would have to say I agree. That was the first time in my life I was scared and unsure of the unknown. The writer backs up her facts about how the United States has had at least 40 known terrorist attacks since 9/11 with a journal article which is something I was unaware of. This blog wasn't anything special to look at, it had no special graphics and just one picture, but the meaning was strong and something I can definitely relate to.